Source: The Extinction Protocol - 1/11/13
January 11, 2013 – BANGLADESH - A cold snap which saw temperatures drop on Thursday to their lowest point in Bangladesh’s post-independence history has killed around 80 people, officials said. The weather office said the lowest temperature was recorded at 3ºC in the northern town of Syedpur and the Red Crescent said hospitals were packed with patients suffering respiratory illness. Shah Alam, deputy head of the weather office, said the last time the temperature had dropped below 3ºC was in February 1968 when Bangladesh was still part of Pakistan.
“The temperature is the lowest in Bangladesh’s history” he said. The Red Crescent Society said impoverished rural areas had been worst hit as many people could not afford warm clothing or heating. “They are not prepared for such extreme weather. Many could not even go to work,” the society’s general-secretary Abu Bakar said. “According to the reports of our district offices and local administrations about 80 people have died due to cold-related diseases such as respiratory problems, pneumonia and cough,” Bakar added. Bangladesh, which is a tropical country, normally sees temperatures fall to around 10ºC at this time of year. The weather office said temperatures were expected to rise from Saturday. –News 24
Australia suffers in record heat: The heat wave across Australia has spiked to unfathomable levels as the ominously-labeled “dome of heat” blankets the continent, sparking wildfires that have caused more than $60 million in damage and claimed more than 120 homes. The average temperature stretched above 39° Celsius (102° F) for six consecutive days, and local temperatures were so high that the Australian Bureau of Meteorology was inclined to add a new hue to their heat map — a deep purple shade — which indicates a temperature above 50° C (122° F). –Time
