Nearly a year's worth of rain fell in 6 days in parts of Australia
23 March 2021
Rainfall is easing in some parts of Australia Tuesday, but many rivers continue to rise in the wake of nearly a year's worth of rainfall that fell in just six days in areas of New South Wales and Queensland.
Why it matters: The flooding is the latest in a string of extreme weather disasters that have struck Australia in the past year. The country has careened from drought and devastating wildfires to unusually heavy rains and flooding not seen in decades.
- More heavy rain is still forecast on Tuesday for southeastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales, as well as the south coast of New South Wales, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
- As a low pressure area intensifies and moves south to the Tasman Sea, heavy rains are also expected in Tasmania, where up to 8 inches is forecast, along with strong winds.
The big picture: Australia is ground zero for emerging impacts of climate change, from heat waves and wildfires and flooding. Scientific studies have established clear ties between increasingly common and heavy rainfall events and a warming ocean and atmosphere.
- As temperatures increase, the amount of moisture the air can hold also climbs.
What they're saying: “For many communities dealing with floods right now, this is the latest in a line of climate change-exacerbated extreme weather events they have faced, including drought, the Black Summer bushfires, and scorching heatwaves,” said Climate Council spokesman and climate scientist Will Steffen.
The bottom line: The government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has resisted citing climate change as one of the causes of this disaster.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.