Climate events reported from January to September 2021

An unprecedented cold snap had swept across the United States in early February, coupled with freezing rain, snowfall and blizzard.
Texas was particularly affected with temperatures of -20°C, 21 degrees below seasonal norms.
This historic cold episode is expected to set insurers back 15 billion USD.

Triggered by an unprecedented heat wave, in the west American continent, more than 300 forest fires broke out in Canada.
An absolute temperature record was reported in the village of Lytton, epicenter of the heat dome, with 49.6°C. A large part of the village was consumed by flames a few days after this heat wave.
Canadian authorities estimate that the heat wave has claimed more than 400 lives in the country. In total, 1.2 million hectares of forest went in flames in Canada.

Heavy rains and devastating floods had washed Germany and Belgium on 14 and 15 July, causing the death of more than 200 people.
Significant material damage has been reported and estimated at 26 billion EUR for Germany and 1.7 billion EUR for Belgium.
Entire towns were caught up in the water and landslides.
This is the biggest disaster in Europe since the Lothar and Martin storms of 1999.

Siberia, one of the coldest regions in the world, has faced unprecedented high temperatures and monster fires with more than 17 million hectares of forest being consumed by flames.

In three days, the Chinese province of Henan reported the equivalent of almost a year's rainfall.
As a result, flooding and mudslides have killed more than 300 people, damaged more than one million hectares of crops and destroyed more than 35 000 houses.
The economic losses sustained from this disaster are estimated at nearly 20 billion USD.

Temperatures had risen to 43.1°C in New Delhi in early July. Many cities in the country also experienced stifling heat in addition to a water shortage that is affecting a large part of the population.

Torrential rains poured down on India's west coast in mid-July, causing landslides and a deluge of mud.
The monsoon arrived two weeks late and brought twice the usual average rainfall.
This exceptional event left 159 people dead and several dozens missing.

This phenomenon was caused by rainfall at an altitude of more than 3 000 meters and temperatures more than 10°C above seasonal norms. Several billion tons of ice had melted in a few days.

Major fires had ravaged the southern coast of Turkey.
This summer, the country suffered the worst fires in its history. Nearly 200 000 hectares of forests and crops were destroyed, five times more than the average annual area burned between 2008 and 2020.

Most of the countries around the Mediterranean were confronted with an unprecedented rise in temperatures.
Fires of rare intensity destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares in Algeria, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco.
For all of these countries, the number of hectares consumed by fire exceeded by far annual averages.

The west of the country had been ravaged by a hundred or so serious fires. Almost 2 million hectares went up in smoke in California, Nevada and Oregon.
The Dixie Fire, which broke out on July 13, is the second largest wildfire in California's history.
More than 1 000 buildings and 275 000 hectares were destroyed.

Heavy rains caused a devastating mudslide in the resort town of Atami, about 100 km west of Tokyo, in early July.
23 people had lost their lives while 4 went missing.

Following record rainfall on 14 August, fourteen rivers burst their banks causing landslides and unprecedented flooding in western Japan.

Greece had endured an exceptional heat wave with temperatures ranging from 40 to 45 degrees.
As a result, 118 fires destroyed more than 120 000 hectares.

The passage of Hurricane Ida in the south and northeast of the United States had triggered historic flooding. In New York, several people died, drowning in basements and subway stations.
The hurricane killed at least 50 people and caused material damages estimated at 95 billion USD.