The New Normal: East Asia’s Brutal Heatwave

A brutal heatwave across East Asia has devastated agriculture, leaving one farmer Lee Sang-hyuk with an entirely spoiled potato crop in Yanggu county, 80 miles (130km) north-east of Seoul, South Korea. 

The extreme ground heat effectively cooked the produce in the soil, turning a healthy-looking field into mush within a single week. 

Speaking to local broadcaster SBS, Lee expressed heartbreak over the widespread damage. His ruined livelihood reflects the broader impact of record-breaking summer temperatures currently impacting South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong. As per a news report from The Guardian published August 13, 2026. 

In fact, two Sundays ago, the south-eastern city of Yangsan recorded a temperature of 42.5C, the highest registered in South Korea since modern weather observations began in 1904. 

The scorching heat has since been blamed for at least 31 deaths nationwide, according to the country’s disease control agency, while more than 900,000 livestock and 1.4 million farmed fish have died. 

Authorities issued a heat warning, urging people to “immediately stop all outdoor activities”. 

South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung, told his cabinet the extreme weather was “unlike anything we have experienced before”. 

“We need to make efforts for a fundamental overhaul of the national crisis system”, he said, “since this extreme weather is becoming the new normal”. 

In neighbouring Japan, temperatures reached 40C or higher at multiple locations and the country recorded its first ever “kokushobi”, or “cruelly hot day”, a new category introduced this year by the country’s weather agency for temperatures above 40C. In Tokyo, three lions died of suspected heatstroke at a city zoo. 

Scientists say the extremes are part of a wider pattern. Researchers working through Japan’s Weather Attribution Centre found that the country’s intense July heat would have been “virtually impossible” without global warming. 

Without the warming caused by human activity, they calculated, a heatwave of this scale would occur on average once ever 10,000 years. The heat struck even as an El Niño event was under way, a natural climate pattern that has in the past been associated with a lower likelihood of extreme summer heat in Japan. 

In Hong Kong, its observatory posted an official temperature of 36.9C, the highest recorded there since records began in 1884, as the outer bands of Typhoon Dolphin swept hot air over the city. 

In China’s western Xinjiang region, a weather station recorded a 50C reading in July and heatwaves gripped the country’s north-east, while North Korea reported a run of tropical nights in Pyongyang, with temperatures failing to fall below 25C. 

The World Meteorological Organization said in their latest State of the Climate in Asia report that the pace of Asia’s warming between 1991 and 2025 is roughly twice that of the preceding three decades. 

June-Yi Lee (right), a climate scientist at Pusan National University and a coordinating lead author of the UN’s most recent climate assessment, warned that heatwaves were expected to become more frequent and intense as the climate heated up, while compound extremes, such as consecutive heatwaves and heavy rainfall, were becoming more common. 

“There is an urgent need for rapid, large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to limit further global warming together with well-planned adaptation measures to address the climate change that is already occurring”, she said.

The Cool City Blueprint

As cities across the tropics search for ways to cope with rising temperatures, Singapore has turned to a multi-layered urban heat mitigation strategy that combines extensive tree planting, cool building materials, district cooling, and high-tech climate modeling. 

The city is planting one million new trees and expanding parks to provide natural canopy shade, which reduces street-level temperatures by up to 2.6°C. To decrease solar heat absorption, workers apply high-albedo, reflective paints to public housing and building roofs. Urban planners design building layouts with optimal porosity to preserve natural air paths and sea breezes through dense urban canyons. Finally, major districts utilize centralized chilled-water networks for district cooling, which cuts down waste heat from individual air conditioning units. 

Singapore's proactive, tech-driven approach integrates nature with advanced engineering, offering a scalable blueprint for global urban centers balancing rapid growth with surging thermal trends. 

The largest cyclosporiasis outbreak in US history is not expected to end anytime soon. 

[For background info, kindly refer to my earlier posts dated July 23 and 28, 2026]. 

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Monday, the first two deaths linked to a mass Cyclospora surge that is tied to contaminated iceberg lettuce. The multi-state outbreak of the intestinal parasite has affected at least 45 states, with cases originally detailed in reports from AP News.

The Defense Against Korea's Heat Waves

As record heat waves continue to bake concrete jungles across the globe, city planners looking for thermal relief may find their best defense planted right outside their front doors. 

According to new research from Korea’s National Institute of Forest Science, urban forests serve as powerful, natural air conditioners, slashing daytime temperatures by nearly 2 degrees Celsius compared to heavily built-up city centers. 

The findings, released July 27, 2026 by the forest research agency, draw on continuous temperature and humidity tracking across various urban environments in Seoul. The data reveals that city forests provide a consistent cooling effect, lowering temperatures by up to 1.8 degrees Celsius at the peak of midday heat. 

However, not all green spaces cool equally. Researchers discovered that broadleaf and mixed forests – composed of both deciduous and coniferous trees – offered the most dramatic heat reduction, cooling surrounding areas by 1.5 to 1.8 degrees Celsius. Coniferous stands were slightly less effective, lowering temperatures by about 1.2 degrees Celsius. 

Scientists attribute this microclimate mitigation to two key ecological processes: dense canopy shading and evapotranspiration. During summer months, thick, leafy canopies form a protective shield against direct solar radiation. At the same time, trees release water vapor into the atmosphere through their leaves, drawing latent heat from the surrounding air and creating a localized chilling effect. 

The cooling benefits do not vanish when the sun sets. The study found that urban forests maintain temperatures 1.3 to 1.6 degrees Celsius lower than dense urban centers overnight, offering crucial relief from tropical nights – periods where nighttime temperatures fail to drop below comfortable levels. 

Unlike asphalt and concrete, which store heat during the day and radiate it outward after dark, forest ecosystems release far less stored thermal energy, helping regulate citywide microclimates around the clock. 

"Urban forests are critical green infrastructure protecting residents from intense summer heat waves, with multilayered broadleaf and mixed forests demonstrating exceptional cooling performance", said Choi Su-min, a researcher at the institute's Urban Forest Research Center. "Moving forward, urban planners must actively incorporate these specific vegetation structures when designing city parks and green zones".  

As climate change accelerates the frequency and intensity of summer heat, the Urban Forest Research Center said the study underscores a growing consensus among urban planners: investing in diverse, multilayered forest canopies is no longer merely an aesthetic amenity, but an essential public health strategy to keep modern cities livable.

The Deadly Heatwave in Europe

Temperatures in Europe have hit a new high this summer, with hotter early-summer heatwaves resulting in illness, excessive deaths and the collapse of infrastructure. 

On June 28, temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some regions of the continent, including in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. 

And France’s national public health agency Santé publique France reported that the country experienced roughly 1,000 excess deaths during the heatwave which began on June 20th. 

Official figures noted that France's baseline death rate prior to the extreme heat (measured during April and May) sat at approximately 900 to 1,000 deaths per day. 

It's really, really bad because on June 23, 2026, for instance, France recorded a temperature of 44.3°C (111.7°F), making it one of the highest temperatures ever measured in the country since modern weather records began. 

Overall, 1,300 excess deaths have been reported in Europe since June 21, according to World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. 

In a post on X on June 28 too, he wrote that Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average, and warned that the continent’s infrastructure has not been built to withstand high temperatures. 

“Driven by climate change and global warming, the phenomenon of the ‘once-in-a-generation’ heatwave is now occurring nearly annually”, he had grimly said.

Contrast this to Malaysia. During our hottest months so far in 2026 (March to May), the average daily temperatures ranged between 27°C and 28°C, with normal average daytime highs sitting around 33°C. 

In March and April, multiple districts in northern states like Perlis, Kedah, and Perak were placed under Level 2 heatwave alerts as daily maximum temperatures spiked between 37°C and 40°C for consecutive days. 

In fact, extended hot weather lasted through June, with maximum daytime temperatures consistently soaring up to 38°C across Peninsular Malaysia.

In case you're interested, the expected temperature in Malaysia today ranges from a minimum of 24°C to 25°C to a maximum of 33°C to 34°C. The current conditions are partly sunny at 24°C, though high humidity makes it feel closer to 28°C.

In Pics: Courage and Compassion on the Frontlines in Guangxi

A follow-up on my post "Guangxi Floods: The Power of a 5-Minute Break" published Tuesday. 

More photos of the flood rescue and relief ops in China's Guangxi (officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region):

This video shows Guangxi citizens expressing their gratitude to the parting flood heroes:

Guangxi Floods: The Power of a 5-Minute Break

Some of the most powerful photos from China's Guangxi floods which were triggered on July 06, 2026, weren't taken during a rescue. They were taken during lunch. 

While floodwaters swallowed roads and neighborhoods, rescue teams barely stopped working. In several widely shared images from the disaster zone, exhausted rescuers could be seen eating simple boxed meals as rain poured over them. Others sat wherever they could find a few moments, soaked from hours of rescue work. 

They weren't waiting for better weather or a proper break because there simply wasn't time. Every minute spent leaving the area for shelter was another minute someone could be waiting for help. 

The floods, triggered by Tropical Storm Maysak, forced thousands of people from their homes across Guangxi. According to Reuters and the Associated Press, emergency teams carried out evacuations by boat, searched flooded communities, and worked through dangerous conditions as rivers overflowed and entire neighborhoods disappeared underwater. Their work continued day and night. 

What stays with you isn't the meal itself. It's the choice to eat in the middle of a downpour instead of stepping away from the mission. Those few minutes were enough to regain some energy before heading straight back into the floodwaters to help strangers they had never met. 

Often the clearest picture of courage is simply refusing to stop when others still need you. 

Before the devastation from Tropical Storm Maysak – which claimed at least 39 lives – could even clear in the country's southern and central regions, Typhoon Bavi made a treacherous landfall late Saturday night in eastern China's Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, forcing the emergency evacuation of nearly two million people. 

By Sunday, Typhoon Bavi weakened into a severe tropical storm and tracked northwest toward Anhui province before veering northeast toward the Shandong Peninsula in Shandong province. China's National Meteorological Center reported the storm will then head into the northern stretch of the Yellow Sea. 

It’s a one-two punch of extreme weather that has severely tested the nation's infrastructure, but the swift emergency response and community resilience remain China's strongest shield against the storm.

Companionship Is A Silent Power

A 24-year-old cancer patient in Foshan, China opens a delivery app and orders two hours of human company. Just someone to sit by her bed and talk.

How comforting the presence of another human being can be. 

Since the crippling of US military sites and the demolition of radars in the Middle East due to Iranian attacks, there has been heavy rainfall in parts of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. 

A large dam in Iran’s Paveh region has overflowed again after seven years. Due to heavy rainfall, this dam with a capacity of about 400 million cubic meters is now completely full and water has started overflowing. 

Meanwhile, Iraq’s largest Darbandikhan Dam has also reached 100% capacity, forcing its gates to be opened. After many years, this dam has again reached its full capacity. 

There are stories that the weather in that region was controlled using cloud seeding radars located in the Middle East, especially in the UAE. Others say that high-powered phased-array radar systems emit extremely powerful electromagnetic beams in UHF and X-band frequencies, which disrupt the normal flow of the atmosphere. But now that the radars have been destroyed, the weather is starting to return to its normal state. 

As a result, Tehran in Iran, which had been affected by drought for years, has seen heavy rainfall and the temperature has dropped by about 5 degrees Celsius. 

Whether this is a conspiracy theory or not, just as the weather is slowly returning to normal – if America completely withdraws from the Middle East, perhaps long-term stability and an environment of peace will return to the region.

Flooded Restaurant Attracts Even More Diners

A restaurant in central Thailand was bursting with a stream of customers coming for a unique dining experience: Enjoying a meal while sitting in flood waters, surrounded by live fish they bring into the establishment. 

Since an adjacent river breached its banks 13 days ago, the flooded riverside restaurant has become an internet sensation, drawing customers keen to pose in the lapping brown water or toss fish food to photograph the feeding frenzy. 

Families enjoyed lunch at Pa Jit restaurant in Nakhon Pathom province, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Bangkok, with enthralled toddlers gawping at the river fish flapping around their thighs. Wait staff in waders gingerly carried bowls of fish soup or chicken noodles from table to table. 

Pa Jit has been a riverside fixture for more than 30 years, said owner Pornkamol Prangprempree. When the restaurant was flooded the first time around four years ago, her heart sank. “I thought there would be no customer for sure”, she said. “But then there was a customer who posted online showing that there were fish. Then a lot of people flocked here to eat”. 

She said floods have boosted her business, with her profits doubling from around 10,000 baht ($309) to around 20,000 baht ($618) per day. 

Pa Jit can expect another few weeks of inundation, as high tides and the tail-end of the monsoon season keep water levels up. Though the flooding has brought an unusual boon to Pa Jit, it has devastated many other areas of Thailand. 

Since late July, twelve people were killed and two went missing due to flooding, according to data from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. On Friday, they reported that more than 480,000 people in 13 provinces, particularly in the north and the central, were affected by floods.

Weather Map Becomes Obscene

Is it "man"-soon season already in the US? 

According to the meteorological map by local TV station, WDAM in Mississippi, severe weather was slated to pound the South over the weekend. However, viewers couldn’t help but notice that this tempest in question, which was denoted in pink, had a decidedly not-safe-for-work outline. 

“Looks like this storm is going to aggressively penetrate the Deep South. Stay alert”, quipped one X user while lampooning the phallic forecast. 

Another wrote, “They’re going to get a VERY HARD rain”. 

“At least it will be wet”, said another. “Seriously though... be safe. This looks like it will be interesting”. 

Despite the humorous shape, the storm itself was no laughing matter. At least 34 people have died when it brought widespread dangerous winds and tornadoes – more than 30 tornadoes were reported across six states and not only "The Magnolia State". Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, and Alabama were reportedly hardest hit.

Newcastle United deservedly won their first domestic trophy – the EFL Cup – for 70 years when they decisively beat abysmal Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley yesterday. 

The Magpies scored either side of half-time and the Reds managed to pull a goal back through substitute Federico Chiesa in injury time. 

Poor defensive work and poor attacking play from Arne Slot's team. A pedestrian effort at best. In fact, it's very telling that Liverpool ended the match with Darwin Nunez, Federico Chiesa, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah on the pitch, with the attack-minded Harvey Elliott just behind and Virgil van Dijk up front. Clearly, The head coach's intent reeked of desperation.

And on the same day, across the border to the north, Rangers administered Celtic's first Scottish Premiership home defeat since December 2023. 

The former defeated the title-chasing team 3-2. Celtic's two goals came from Daizen Maeda's towering header in the 49th minute and Reo Hatate's slotted finish in the 74th minute. 

Sure, Celtic will still go on to win the league, but right now they must deal with the unusual feeling of the bitter sting of derby defeat at home.

Compare The Chongqing Mountain Fire in China

In the wake of LA's raging wildfires, Elon Musk shares this story of emergency responders battling to contain fast-spreading wildfires in China’s southwestern city of Chongqing in August 2022, amid a weeks-long, record heat wave in the region. 

 

This was an awe-inspiring rescue mission, completed in just five days, and it stunned the world!

 

 

💪💪💪 

 

Latest updates from CNN on the California fires. As weather conditions reportedly improve and firefighters make progress in containing the Los Angeles wildfires, they’re still contending with dangerous conditions as they work to extinguish the flames. 

 

“We are not out of the woods yet”, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Wednesday as Cal Fire warned of “extreme hazards and the potential for fire growth”. 

 

The Palisades Fire – the largest of three major fires ravaging Los Angeles County – is still just 21% contained, burning across 23,713 acres, according to Cal Fire. The Eaton Fire – the most destructive fire in Southern California history – is only 45% contained. 

 

And according to USA Today, at least 25 people have died in the fires. Meanwhile, BBC reported 13 people remain missing.

Death Toll Rises to 24 As Firefighters Continue to Battle LA Wildfires

The wildfires raging in Los Angeles in the United States have killed at least 24 people, officials said, as firefighters frantically fought to put out the inferno. 

 

According to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, the 24 deaths included eight from the fires in the Palisades on the western side of the city. The remaining 16 died in the Eaton Fire in the foothills east of Los Angeles, the office said. Robert Luna, the Los Angeles County sheriff, said four people were missing from the Palisades Fire and 12 from the Eaton Fire zone. 

 

The blazes burned for a sixth straight day on Sunday, reducing whole neighborhoods to smouldering ruins, leveling homes and leaving an apocalyptic landscape. 

 

Already, Hollywood studios have suspended production, and Universal Studios closed their theme park. Even the televised announcement of this year’s Oscars nominees has been delayed.

 

California’s prolonged drought has left vegetation extremely dry and highly flammable, turning trees, brush, and undergrowth into fuel for the flames. 

 

In fact, Los Angeles has not seen significant rainfall since May 05, when the city recorded just 0.13 inches, the Los Angeles Times reported. A tenth of an inch of rain is necessary to hydrate dry vegetation and mitigate wildfire risks. 

 

Adding to this are the Santa Ana winds, strong and dry gusts originating from inland deserts. These winds exacerbate fire conditions by stripping vegetation of its remaining moisture, allowing fires to ignite and spread more quickly. 

 

Private forecaster AccuWeather has meanwhile estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending an arduous recovery and soaring homeowners' insurance costs. 

 

California Governor Gavin Newsom told NBC News the fires were likely to be the worst natural disaster in US history “in terms of just the costs associated with it”.

 

Officials meanwhile warned the entire Los Angeles County population of nearly 10 million that anyone may be ordered to evacuate. By Sunday, more than 100,000 people in Los Angeles County had been ordered to evacuate – down from a previous high of 180,000 – while another 87,000 faced evacuation warnings.

Los Angeles Is Burning

Raging wildfires currently ripping through the suburbs of Los Angeles in California, USA and beyond have claimed at least eleven lives so far and forced around 180,000 evacuations as well as burned over 35,000 acres of land and consumed more than 10,000 houses and structures, as of Friday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

 

On Weibo, some Chinese netizens even cited Nancy Pelosi's infamous Hong Kong phrase, "a beautiful sight to behold" (美丽的风景线)! 😄😄

 

It has been said that they are the most destructive wildfires in the history of the state. 

 

The “Pyrocene” is upon us. At least, that is the theory which was first introduced by fire historian Stephen Pyne (right) in a 2015 essay. United States Forest Service ecologist Gavin Jones described the Pyrocene in a 2023 interview with The Explorers Journal as the current era in which humans experience greater fire activity than before. The key driver – human activity. 

 

California’s Governor Gavin Newsom said in a video he posted on X on Wednesday that there is no longer a fire “season” in California. “It’s year-round in the state of California”. 

 

Pyne, an emeritus professor at Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences, agrees. He told Al Jazeera that we now “have to live with a fire age, the fire-informed equivalent to an ice age”. 

 

And he adds, global warming is “adding energy to the system, magnifying the wet and dry spells, lengthening the fire season, ramping up all the [already powerful] elements that contribute to California’s firescape”.

 

The exact causes of the California fires, which began on Tuesday in the Palisades area of Los Angeles, are unknown and under investigation.

2024 1st Year to Pass 1.5C Global Warming Limit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The planet has moved a major step closer to warming more than 1.5C, new data shows, despite world leaders vowing a decade ago they would try to avoid this. 

 

The European Copernicus climate service, one of the main global data providers, said on Friday that 2024 was the first calendar year to pass the symbolic threshold, as well as the world's hottest on record. 

 

This does not mean the international 1.5C target has been broken, because that refers to a long-term average over decades, but does bring us nearer to doing so as fossil fuel emissions continue to heat the atmosphere. Global average temperatures for 2024 were around 1.6C above those of the pre-industrial period – the time before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels – according to Copernicus data. 

 

This breaks the record set in 2023 by just over 0.1C, and means the last 10 years are now the 10 warmest years on record. 

 

A walk in the park for Liverpool as they whipped Accrington Stanley 4-0 in today's third round tie of the FA Cup.

 

The first goal came when Diogo Jota converted Darwin Nunez's square ball in the twenty-ninth minute. Trent Alexander-Arnold doubled the Reds' lead in spectacular fashion on the stroke of half-time, sending a fierce shot into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area.

 

Then, Jayden Danns made it 3-0. He nicked the ball high up the pitch and wriggled out of a tackle before sending Federico Chiesa in on goal. The Italian's shot was saved but ran kindly for Danns to sweep into the roof of the net in the 76th minute. Chiesa did get his first Liverpool goal as he threaded in a low shot from about 22 yards that was more accurate than powerful, finding the very corner in the 90th minute via a bit of the post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arne Slot's team will discover their fourth-round opponents when the draw is made following the conclusion of Sunday's tie between Arsenal and Manchester United.