Temperatures in Australia have reached record highs this summer and people and animals are suffering. Western suburbs like Penrith are expected to end January with lows of 38°C and highs of 41°C and the overall average January temperatures are 3,3 degrees higher this year.
Many animals in the country are struggling with the excessive heat, snakes are reportedly seeking refuge in toilets and 90 feral horses were some of the latest casualties of the heatwave. A number of fish have started dying in rivers due to algae blooms caused by warm temperatures and over 2,000 flying foxes (bats) have died in Victoria, due to the heat.
*World Weather* Meanwhile in Australia – during last week’s extreme, record-breaking heat wave. Photo via Red Climatica Mundial. pic.twitter.com/b5Go7PnPm4
— Volterre (@Volterre_) January 29, 2019
..roads melt, wildfires ravage our forest…& animals continue to die in their thousands, amidst Australia’s heat wave…still our government plays the fool on #climatechange #Heatwave #auspol #TasmaniaFires pic.twitter.com/cnihStcadt
— Mel dawson (@Meldawson6) January 24, 2019
Hundreds of thousands of fish have died due to Australia’s record-breaking heatwave pic.twitter.com/QQRb7jEgJT
— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) January 28, 2019
That time of year when the sad reality of Australia’s heatwave impacts our wildlife. These Vulnerable Grey-headed Flying-foxes don’t stand a chance in conditions like today in Adelaide pic.twitter.com/lmLAOHbMoy
— Graeme Finlayson (@Gra_Fin78) January 24, 2019
At the same time, a polar vortex over the Midwest of the US has Chicago locals experiencing the coldest weather to date with icy temperatures of -20°C. A wind chill warning is in effect until noon on Thursday, as the wind chill is pushing temperatures down to between -36 and -50°C, which can result in frostbite within minutes.
Schools and many restaurants and bars have been closed until Thursday as people hunker down to avoid the cold. According to USA Today, in the early hours of Thursday morning Chicago would be colder than Fairbanks in Alaska (part of the Arctic) and also colder than Antartica in the southern hemisphere, where it is summer. However according to US meterologist Ryan Maue, ‘many typically cold places, such as interior Antarctica, Greenland and most of Siberia, will still be colder than Chicago’.
The weather may be freezing but Chicago residents have not lost their sense of humour as they took to Twitter to share how they feel about the weather.
Coldest weather in at least 25 years puts the Midwest in the freezer. #Chicago forecast temps
Wed low: -22
Wed high: -13°
Thu low: -25°
All-time low is -27° & all-time
low max is -13°.
We’ll be live starting at 6 AM ET Wed on #weatherchannel#PolarVortex2019 pic.twitter.com/rjCudqn0gf— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) January 29, 2019
Out of towners: “Hows the weather in Chicago right now”
Chicago: pic.twitter.com/qTRDjzrtcF
— k💋 (@1kayloreal) January 25, 2019
Minus-60 to minus-50 wind chill all the way into Chicago this week? The weather in the Midwest will be painful. It will literally hurt. pic.twitter.com/HGFzFOpftW
— Angela Fritz (@angelafritz) January 28, 2019
i love Chicago weather! pic.twitter.com/sL3qIpryxR
— sophie🎗 (@sphbg) January 22, 2019
Arctic weather in Chicago. There’s always that one guy. pic.twitter.com/xk3HSr8ThV
— Stormy Clark (@ChiNeighbor) January 26, 2019
This showed up on my feed today #chitown #Chicagoweather pic.twitter.com/xcenRyB4o7
— geek (@geekg1r1) January 28, 2019
looking at the chicago weather reports like pic.twitter.com/E5JlCZ2itW
— rosesforjonghyun (@lipstickace) January 25, 2019
Picture: Facebook
