• Arctic sea ice extent above levels not seen since 2013

    Arctic’s seasonal sea ice loss began more slowly in May 2022 than in the recent years as air temperatures were closer to the 1981 to 2010 average. The month ended with the highest sea ice extent since 2013 – the 14th lowest in the satellite record.

  • Shallow M5.8 and M6.0 earthquakes hit western Sichuan, China

    Two shallow earthquakes registered by the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) as M5.8 (USGS M5.6) and M6.0 (USGS M5.9) hit western Sichuan, China on June 9, 2022. The first quake was registered at 16:03 UTC (00:03 LT) at a depth of 20 km (12.4 miles) and the second at 17:28 UTC (01:28 LT) at a depth of 14 km (8.7 miles). The quakes follow M6.1 (CENC; USGS M5.9) earthquake registered at 09:00 UTC on June 1.

  • Floods and landslides claim at least 25 lives, affect more than 2.6 million people in southern China

    At least 25 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million were affected in southern China since the start of this year’s flood season. In Hunan, China’s major rice-producing region, at least 96 160 ha (237 616 acres) of crops have been destroyed in the first 8 days of the month. Another 76 300 ha (187 8000 acres) of crops were damaged in neighboring Jiangxi.

  • Eruption at Anak Krakatau volcano, Indonesia

    Anak Krakatau volcano erupted at 06:04 UTC on June 8, 2022, with the height of the ash column observed ± 500 m (1 640 feet) above the peak (± 657 m / 2 155 feet above sea level). The Alert Level remains at 3 and the Aviation Color Code at Orange.