A deadly monsoon season in Pakistan has led to the country’s worst flooding in a decade, as climate change causes increasingly extreme weather around the world. 

By the end of August, Pakistan had received three times its annual average rainfall. Summer monsoon rains caused the worst flooding in areas around the Indus River, with some provinces receiving up to five or six times their 30-year average rainfall. More than 33 million people have been impacted by the flooding, and at least 1,100 people have died. 

Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but it is the eighth-most vulnerable country to climate change. Some officials estimate that the recovery will cost $10 billion. The costs of flooding also affect the rest of the world: Flooding in 2021 destroyed more than 12 million acres of crops, contributing to the global surge in food prices. Worldwide, flooding has caused over 250,000 deaths and led to economic damage exceeding $1 trillion since 1980.

Reductions and temporary halts in Russian natural gas exports have exposed the vulnerability of European energy systems, pushing gas prices to record highs and amplifying recession and high inflation concerns.

The situation is worsened by drought conditions that have caused reductions in hydroelectric and nuclear power generation across Europe and led Norway to announce possible cuts to its hydroelectricity exports. The consequences on European energy systems are already evident: Germany will limit heating in public buildings to 19 degrees Celsius and has announced rationing plans unless usage is reduced by 20%. 

European gas storage facilities are on track to meet their refill targets, but this may not be enough to prepare for winter. The EU is planning to reform its energy markets and has agreed to cut gas use by 15% through March 2023 while increasing imports from the United States. With its REPowerEU plan, the European Commission will also reduce Russian gas imports by two-thirds by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, Germany and other EU countries are scrambling to find additional suppliers while investing in energy efficiency and renewables. The U.K. has announced similar plans to phase out Russian imports and to expand its wind and nuclear capacity.

The eurozone bond market is experiencing volatility at levels last seen during the 2011 eurozone debt crisis and 2008 financial crisis, as uncertainty about rising interest rates and recession fears continue to grow.

Germany — the benchmark for the euro — has seen swings in its 10-year bund (German federal bond) of at least a 0.1 percentage point range on 79 days in 2022, reports the Financial Times. The spread between German and Italian 10-year-yields was at its highest level this month, near 2.3 percentage points.

Liquidity in bond markets has been impacted by a looming recession and the European Central Bank’s continued interest rate hikes. The ECB has signaled that it will raise interest rates another half percentage point at its meeting on September 8 in an attempt to curb inflation. Inflation in Germany is forecast to rise above 10% for the first time in 70 years, and eurozone inflation reached a record high of 8.9% in July. 

Adding to investors’ worries is the ECB’s slowdown on its bond-buying programs, including the end of its 1.7 trillion euro ($1.7) Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme and the expected third-quarter end of its €3.3 trillion ($1.3) Asset Purchase Programme. 

The U.S. has reached a critical tipping point for the sale of fully electric vehicles, with 5% of new car sales being fully electric, reports Bloomberg. Nineteen countries have passed the 5% tipping point, including the three largest car markets: Europe, China and the U.S. If the U.S. follows the trends of other large-scale EV adopters, a quarter of car sales will be electric by the end of 2025.

Electric cars and hybrids are becoming more popular worldwide — there are more than 20 million electric vehicles on the road this year, and that number will double by the end of 2023. Government incentives and environmental regulation are the reasons for growing global demand for EVs. Continued growth relies on increased production by automakers, including reconfigured factories and supply chains.

The next largest car markets approaching the 5% tipping point this year include Canada, Australia and Spain. But countries that account for one-third of car sales worldwide still haven’t reached the 5% tipping point. Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia haven’t yet adopted EVs on a wide scale.