| 1. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Technical Design Report for the Upgrade of the ALICE Inner Tracking System
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 0954-3899 .- 1361-6471. ; 41:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- LICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is studying the physics of strongly interacting matter, and in particular the properties of the Quark–Gluon Plasma (QGP), using proton–proton, proton–nucleus and nucleus–nucleus collisions at the CERN LHC (Large Hadron Collider). The ALICE Collaboration is preparing a major upgrade of the experimental apparatus, planned for installation in the second long LHC shutdown in the years 2018–2019. A key element of the ALICE upgrade is the construction of a new, ultra-light, high-resolution Inner Tracking System (ITS) based on monolithic CMOS pixel detectors. The primary focus of the ITS upgrade is on improving the performance for detection of heavy-flavour hadrons, and of thermal photons and low-mass di-electrons emitted by the QGP. With respect to the current detector, the new Inner Tracking System will significantly enhance the determination of the distance of closest approach to the primary vertex, the tracking efficiency at low transverse momenta, and the read-out rate capabilities. This will be obtained by seven concentric detector layers based on a 50 μm thick CMOS pixel sensor with a pixel pitch of about 30×30 μm2. This document, submitted to the LHCC (LHC experiments Committee) in September 2013, presents the design goals, a summary of the R&D activities, with focus on the technical implementation of the main detector components, and the projected detector and physics performance.
|
|
| 2. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Azimuthal anisotropy of D-meson production in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 90:3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The production of the prompt charmed mesonsD(0), D+, andD(*+) relative to the reaction plane was measured in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision of root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decays at central rapidity in the transverse-momentum (pT) interval 2-16 GeV/c. The azimuthal anisotropy is quantified in terms of the second coefficient v(2) in a Fourier expansion of the D-meson azimuthal distribution and in terms of the nuclear modification factor R-AA, measured in the direction of the reaction plane and orthogonal to it. The v(2) coefficient was measured with three different methods and in three centrality classes in the interval 0%-50%. A positive v(2) is observed in midcentral collisions (30%-50% centrality class), with a mean value of 0.204(-0.036)(+0.099) (tot.unc.) in the interval 2 < pT < 6 GeV/c, which decreases towards more central collisions (10%-30% and 0%-10% classes). The positive v(2) is also reflected in the nuclear modification factor, which shows a stronger suppression in the direction orthogonal to the reaction plane formidcentral collisions. The measurements are compared to theoretical calculations of charm-quark transport and energy loss in high-density strongly interacting matter at high temperature. The models that include substantial elastic interactions with an expanding medium provide a good description of the observed anisotropy. However, they are challenged to simultaneously describe the strong suppression of high-pT yield of D mesons in central collisions and their azimuthal anisotropy in noncentral collisions.
|
|
| 3. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Beauty production in pp collisions at root s=2.76 TeV measured via semi-electronic decays
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 738, s. 97-108
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ALICE Collaboration at the LHC reports measurement of the inclusive production cross section of electrons from semi-leptonic decays of beauty hadrons with rapidity |y| < 0.8 and transverse momentum 1 < p(T)< 10 GeV/c, in pp collisions at root s = 2.76 TeV. Electrons not originating from semi-electronic decay of beauty hadrons are suppressed using the impact parameter of the corresponding tracks. The production cross section of beauty decay electrons is compared to the result obtained with an alternative method which uses the distribution of the azimuthal angle between heavy-flavour decay electrons and charged hadrons. Perturbative QCD predictions agree with the measured cross section within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. The integrated visible cross section, sigma(b -> e) = 3.47 +/- 0.40(stat)(+1.12)(-1.33)(sys) +/- 0.07(norm) mu b, was extrapolated to full phase space using Fixed Order plus Next-to-Leading Log (FONLL) calculations to obtain the total b (b) over bar production cross section, sigma(b (b) over bar) = 130 +/- 15.1(stat)(+42.1)(-49.8)(sys)(+3.4)(-3.1)(extr) +/- 2.5(norm) +/- 4.4(BR) mu b. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
|
|
| 4. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Charged jet cross sections and properties in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 91:11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The differential charged jet cross sections, jet fragmentation distributions, and jet shapes are measured in minimum bias proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energy root s = 7 TeV using the ALICE detector at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed from charged particle momenta in the midrapidity region using the sequential recombination k(T) and anti-k(T) as well as the SISCone jet finding algorithms with several resolution parameters in the range R = 0.2-0.6. Differential jet production cross sections measured with the three jet finders are in agreement in the transverse momentum (p(T)) interval 20 < p(T)(jet,ch) < 100 GeV/c. They are also consistent with prior measurements carried out at the LHC by the ATLAS Collaboration. The jet charged particle multiplicity rises monotonically with increasing jet p(T), in qualitative agreement with prior observations at lower energies. The transverse profiles of leading jets are investigated using radial momentum density distributions as well as distributions of the average radius containing 80% (< R-80 >) of the reconstructed jet p(T). The fragmentation of leading jets with R = 0.4 using scaled p(T) spectra of the jet constituents is studied. The measurements are compared to model calculations from event generators (PYTHIA, PHOJET, HERWIG). The measured radial density distributions and < R-80 > distributions are well described by the PYTHIA model (tune Perugia-2011). The fragmentation distributions are better described by HERWIG.
|
|
| 5. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Elliptic flow of identified hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-s=2.76 Tev
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Journal of High Energy Physics. - 1029-8479. ; :6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The elliptic flow coefficient (v(2)) of identified particles in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV was measured with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The results were obtained with the Scalar Product method, a two-particle correlation technique, using a pseudo-rapidity gap of |Delta eta| > 0.9 between the identified hadron under study and the reference particles. The v (2) is reported for pi(+/-), K-+/-, K-S(0), p+(p) over bar, phi, Lambda+(Lambda) over bar, Xi+(Xi) over bar (+) and Omega(-)+(Omega) over bar (+) in several collision centralities. In the low transverse momentum (p(T)) region, p(T) < 3 GeV/c, v(2)(p(T)) exhibits a particle mass dependence consistent with elliptic flow accompanied by the transverse radial expansion of the system with a common velocity field. The experimental data for pi (+/-) and the combined K-+/- and K-S(0) results, are described fairly well by hydrodynamic calculations coupled to a hadronic cascade model (VISHNU) for central collisions. However, the same calculations fail to reproduce the v(2)(p(T)) for p+(p) over bar, phi, Lambda+(Lambda) over bar, Xi+(Xi) over bar (+). For transverse momentum values larger than about 3 GeV/c, particles tend to group according to their type, i.e. mesons and baryons. The present measurements exhibit deviations from the number of constituent quark (NCQ) scaling at the level of +/- 20% for p(T) > 3 GeV/c.
|
|
| 6. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Event-by-event mean p(T) fluctuations in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC
- 2014
-
Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 74:10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Event-by-event fluctuations of the mean transverse momentum of charged particles produced in pp collisions at root s = 0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV, and Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN = 2.76 TeV are studied as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity using the ALICE detector at the LHC. Dynamical fluctuations indicative of correlated particle emission are observed in all systems. The results in pp collisions show little dependence on collision energy. The Monte Carlo event generators PYTHIA and PHOJET are in qualitative agreement with the data. Peripheral Pb-Pb data exhibit a similar-multiplicity dependence as that observed in pp. In central Pb-Pb, the results deviate from this trend, featuring a significant reduction of the fluctuation strength. The results in Pb-Pb are in qualitative agreement with previous measurements in Au-Au at lower collision energies and with expectations from models that incorporate collective phenomena.
|
|
| 7. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Inclusive photon production at forward rapidities in proton-proton collisions at root s=0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV
- 2015
-
Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 75:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons have been measured at forward rapidities (2.3 < eta < 3.9) in proton-proton collisions at three center-of-mass energies, root s = 0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV using the ALICE detector. It is observed that the increase in the average photon multiplicity as a function of beam energy is compatible with both a logarithmic and a power-law dependence. The relative increase in average photon multiplicity produced in inelastic pp collisions at 2.76 and 7 TeV center-of-mass energies with respect to 0.9 TeV are 37.2 +/- 0.3% (stat) +/- 8.8% (sys) and 61.2 +/- 0.3% (stat) +/- 7.6% (sys), respectively. The photon multiplicity distributions for all center-of-mass energies are well described by negative binomial distributions. The multiplicity distributions are also presented in terms of KNO variables. The results are compared to model predictions, which are found in general to underestimate the data at large photon multiplicities, in particular at the highest center-of-mass energy. Limiting fragmentation behavior of photons has been explored with the data, but is not observed in the measured pseudorapidity range.
|
|
| 8. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Measurement of electrons from semileptonic heavy-flavor hadron decays in pp collisions at root s=2.76 TeV
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 91:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The p(T)-differential production cross section of electrons from semileptonic decays of heavy-flavor hadrons has been measured at midrapidity in proton-proton collisions at root s = 2.76 TeV in the transverse momentum range 0.5 < p(T) < 12 GeV/c with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The analysis was performed using minimum bias events and events triggered by the electromagnetic calorimeter. Predictions from perturbative QCD calculations agree with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties.
|
|
| 9. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Multiparticle azimuthal correlations in p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 90:5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Measurements of multiparticle azimuthal correlations (cumulants) for charged particles in p-Pb at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV and Pb-Pb at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV collisions are presented. They help address the question of whether there is evidence for global, flowlike, azimuthal correlations in the p-Pb system. Comparisons are made to measurements from the larger Pb-Pb system, where such evidence is established. In particular, the second harmonic two-particle cumulants are found to decrease with multiplicity, characteristic of a dominance of few-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions. However, when a vertical bar Delta eta vertical bar gap is placed to suppress such correlations, the two-particle cumulants begin to rise at high multiplicity, indicating the presence of global azimuthal correlations. The Pb-Pb values are higher than the p-Pb values at similar multiplicities. In both systems, the second harmonic four-particle cumulants exhibit a transition from positive to negative values when the multiplicity increases. The negative values allow for a measurement of v(2){4} to be made, which is found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions at similar multiplicities. The second harmonic six-particle cumulants are also found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions. In Pb-Pb collisions, we generally find v(2){4} similar or equal to v(2){6} not equal 0 which is indicative of a Bessel-Gaussian function for the v(2) distribution. For very high-multiplicity Pb-Pb collisions, we observe that the four-and six-particle cumulants become consistent with 0. Finally, third harmonic two-particle cumulants in p-Pb and Pb-Pb are measured. These are found to be similar for overlapping multiplicities, when a vertical bar Delta eta vertical bar > 1.4 gap is placed.
|
|
| 10. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Multiplicity dependence of jet-like two-particle correlation structures in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 741, s. 38-50
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two-particle angular correlations between unidentified charged trigger and associated particles are measured by the ALICE detector in p-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The transverse-momentum range 0.7 < p(T),(assoc) < p(T),(trig) < 5.0 GeV/c is examined, to include correlations induced by jets originating from low momentum-transfer scatterings (minijets). The correlations expressed as associated yield per trigger particle are obtained in the pseudorapidity range vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.9. The near-side long-range pseudorapidity correlations observed in high-multiplicity p-Pb collisions are subtracted from both near-side short-range and away-side correlations in order to remove the non-jet-like components. The yields in the jet-like peaks are found to be invariant with event multiplicity with the exception of events with low multiplicity. This invariance is consistent with the particles being produced via the incoherent fragmentation of multiple parton-parton scatterings, while the yield related to the previously observed ridge structures is not jet-related. The number of uncorrelated sources of particle production is found to increase linearly with multiplicity, suggesting no saturation of the number of multi-parton interactions even in the highest multiplicity p-Pb collisions. Further, the number scales only in the intermediate multiplicity region with the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions estimated with a Glauber Monte-Carlo simulation. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
|
|
| 11. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Neutral pion production at midrapidity in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV
- 2014
-
Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 74:10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Invariant yields of neutral pions at midrapidity in the transverse momentum range 0.6 < pT < 12 GeV/c measured in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-s = 2.76 TeV are presented for six centrality classes. The pp reference spectrum was measured in the range 0.4 < pT < 10 GeV/c at the same center-of-mass energy. The nuclear modification factor, R-AA, shows a suppression of neutral pions in central Pb-Pb collisions by a factor of up to about 8-10 for 5 less than or similar to p(T) less than or similar to 7 GeV/c. The presented measurements are compared with results at lower center-of-mass energies and with theoretical calculations.
|
|
| 12. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Transverse momentum dependence of inclusive primary charged-particle production in p-Pb collisions at root S-NN=5.02 TeV
- 2014
-
Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 74:9
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The transverse momentum (pT) distribution of primary charged particles is measured at midrapidity in minimum-bias p-Pb collisions at root S-NN = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC in the range 0.15 < pT < 50 GeV/c. The spectra are compared to the expectation based on binary collision scaling of particle production in pp collisions, leading to a nuclear modification factor consistent with unity for pT larger than 2 GeV/c, with a weak indication of a Cronin-like enhancement for pT around 4 GeV/c. The measurement is compared to theoretical calculations and to data in Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN = 2.76 TeV.
|
|
| 13. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Suppression of Upsilon(1S) at forward rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 738, s. 361-372
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the measurement of the inclusive Upsilon(1S) production in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV carried out at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4) and down to zero transverse momentum using its mu(+)mu(-) decay channel with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Astrong suppression of the inclusive Upsilon(1S) yield is observed with respect to pp collisions scaled by the number of independent nucleo-nnucleon collisions. The nuclear modification factor, for events in the 0-90% centrality range, amounts to 0.30 +/- 0.05(stat) +/- 0.04(syst). The observed Upsilon(1S) suppression tends to increase with the centrality of the collision and seems more pronounced than in corresponding mid-rapidity measurements. Our results are compared with model calculations, which are found to underestimate the measured suppression and fail to reproduce its rapidity dependence. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B. V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Funded by SCOAP(3).
|
|
| 14. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(författare)
-
Measurement of visible cross sections in proton-lead collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV in van der Meer scans with the ALICE detector
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 9
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2013, the Large Hadron Collider provided proton-lead and lead-proton collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV. Van der Meer scans were performed for both configurations of colliding beams, and the cross section was measured for two reference processes, based on particle detection by the T0 and V0 detectors, with pseudo-rapidity coverage 4.6 < eta < 4.9, -3.3 < eta < -3.0 and 2.8 < eta < 5.1, -3.7 < eta < -1.7, respectively. Given the asymmetric detector acceptance, the cross section was measured separately for the two configurations. The measured visible cross sections are used to calculate the integrated luminosity of the proton-lead and lead-proton data samples, and to indirectly measure the cross section for a third, configuration-independent, reference process, based on neutron detection by the Zero Degree Calorimeters.
|
|
| 15. |
- Arndt, D. S., et al.
(författare)
-
STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2017
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society - (BAMS). - : American Meteorological Society. - 0003-0007 .- 1520-0477. ; 99:8, s. S1-S310
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)
|
|
| 16. |
- Arndt, D. S., et al.
(författare)
-
State of the Climate in 2016
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society - (BAMS). - 0003-0007 .- 1520-0477. ; 98:8, s. S1-S280
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2016, the dominant greenhouse gases released into Earth's atmosphere-carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide-continued to increase and reach new record highs. The 3.5 +/- 0.1 ppm rise in global annual mean carbon dioxide from 2015 to 2016 was the largest annual increase observed in the 58-year measurement record. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration at Earth's surface surpassed 400 ppm (402.9 +/- 0.1 ppm) for the first time in the modern atmospheric measurement record and in ice core records dating back as far as 800000 years. One of the strongest El Nino events since at least 1950 dissipated in spring, and a weak La Nina evolved later in the year. Owing at least in part to the combination of El Nino conditions early in the year and a long-term upward trend, Earth's surface observed record warmth for a third consecutive year, albeit by a much slimmer margin than by which that record was set in 2015. Above Earth's surface, the annual lower troposphere temperature was record high according to all datasets analyzed, while the lower stratospheric temperature was record low according to most of the in situ and satellite datasets. Several countries, including Mexico and India, reported record high annual temperatures while many others observed near-record highs. A week-long heat wave at the end of April over the northern and eastern Indian peninsula, with temperatures surpassing 44 degrees C, contributed to a water crisis for 330 million people and to 300 fatalities. In the Arctic the 2016 land surface temperature was 2.0 degrees C above the 1981-2010 average, breaking the previous record of 2007, 2011, and 2015 by 0.8 degrees C, representing a 3.5 degrees C increase since the record began in 1900. The increasing temperatures have led to decreasing Arctic sea ice extent and thickness. On 24 March, the sea ice extent at the end of the growth season saw its lowest maximum in the 37-year satellite record, tying with 2015 at 7.2% below the 1981-2010 average. The September 2016 Arctic sea ice minimum extent tied with 2007 for the second lowest value on record, 33% lower than the 1981-2010 average. Arctic sea ice cover remains relatively young and thin, making it vulnerable to continued extensive melt. The mass of the Greenland Ice Sheet, which has the capacity to contribute similar to 7 m to sea level rise, reached a record low value. The onset of its surface melt was the second earliest, after 2012, in the 37-year satellite record. Sea surface temperature was record high at the global scale, surpassing the previous record of 2015 by about 0.01 degrees C. The global sea surface temperature trend for the 21st century-to-date of +0.162 degrees C decade(-1) is much higher than the longer term 1950-2016 trend of +0.100 degrees C decade(-1). Global annual mean sea level also reached a new record high, marking the sixth consecutive year of increase. Global annual ocean heat content saw a slight drop compared to the record high in 2015. Alpine glacier retreat continued around the globe, and preliminary data indicate that 2016 is the 37th consecutive year of negative annual mass balance. Across the Northern Hemisphere, snow cover for each month from February to June was among its four least extensive in the 47-year satellite record. Continuing a pattern below the surface, record high temperatures at 20-m depth were measured at all permafrost observatories on the North Slope of Alaska and at the Canadian observatory on northernmost Ellesmere Island. In the Antarctic, record low monthly surface pressures were broken at many stations, with the southern annular mode setting record high index values in March and June. Monthly high surface pressure records for August and November were set at several stations. During this period, record low daily and monthly sea ice extents were observed, with the November mean sea ice extent more than 5 standard deviations below the 1981-2010 average. These record low sea ice values contrast sharply with the record high values observed during 2012-14. Over the region, springtime Antarctic stratospheric ozone depletion was less severe relative to the 1991-2006 average, but ozone levels were still low compared to pre-1990 levels. Closer to the equator, 93 named tropical storms were observed during 2016, above the 1981-2010 average of 82, but fewer than the 101 storms recorded in 2015. Three basins-the North Atlantic, and eastern and western North Pacific-experienced above-normal activity in 2016. The Australian basin recorded its least active season since the beginning of the satellite era in 1970. Overall, four tropical cyclones reached the Saffir-Simpson category 5 intensity level. The strong El Nino at the beginning of the year that transitioned to a weak La Nina contributed to enhanced precipitation variability around the world. Wet conditions were observed throughout the year across southern South America, causing repeated heavy flooding in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Wetter-than-usual conditions were also observed for eastern Europe and central Asia, alleviating the drought conditions of 2014 and 2015 in southern Russia. In the United States, California had its first wetter-than-average year since 2012, after being plagued by drought for several years. Even so, the area covered by drought in 2016 at the global scale was among the largest in the post-1950 record. For each month, at least 12% of land surfaces experienced severe drought conditions or worse, the longest such stretch in the record. In northeastern Brazil, drought conditions were observed for the fifth consecutive year, making this the longest drought on record in the region. Dry conditions were also observed in western Bolivia and Peru; it was Bolivia's worst drought in the past 25 years. In May, with abnormally warm and dry conditions already prevailing over western Canada for about a year, the human-induced Fort McMurray wildfire burned nearly 590000 hectares and became the costliest disaster in Canadian history, with $3 billion (U.S. dollars) in insured losses.
|
|
