Earth’s warmest March is 10th straight record month, NOAA and NASA find

Monthly global surface air temperature anomalies (°C) relative to 1850–1900 from January 1940 to March 2024, plotted as time series for each year. 2024 is shown with a thick yellow line, 2023 with a thick red line, and all other years with thin lines shaded according to the decade, from blue (1940s) to brick red (2020s). Data source: ERA5. Graphic: C3S / ECMWF

April 27, 2024

Earth’s warmest March is 10th straight record month, NOAA and NASA find

By Jonathan Erdman 12 April 2024 (Weather.com) – March was Earth’s warmest on record, according to data from three separate agencies, the latest month in a stretch of heat records since the planet’s hottest year in 2023. Another month, another record In a report released Friday, NOAA found March’s globally average temperature was 2.43 degrees Fahrenheit above […]

U.S. landfill tonnages by waste type, 1960-2018. In 2018, about 146.1 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) were landfilled. Food was the largest component at about 24 percent. Plastics accounted for more than 18 percent, paper and paperboard made up about 12 percent, and rubber, leather and textiles comprised over 11 percent. Other materials accounted for less than 10 percent each. Graphic: EPA

December 25, 2023

I’m appalled by what I learned about recycling. But we can fix it.

By Oliver Franklin-Wallis 29 November 2023 (The New York Times) – It happened again the other night: Washing up after dinner, I went to throw out a packet of just-eaten instant tortellini and was flummoxed. It was plastic, sure. But what kind? There was no resin code or recycling symbol on the package. Nothing on […]

U.S. federal government outlays for net interest (12-month rolling sum), 1985-2023. Data are current through August 2023. Data: LSEG Datastream. Graphic: Kripa Jayaram / Reuters

October 29, 2023

As global debt worries mount, is another crisis brewing? “You can take many, many countries today, and you will see that we are not far away from a public finances crisis”

By Yoruk Bahceli, Dhara Ranasinghe, and Maria Martinez 16 October 2023 LONDON (Reuters) – Record debts, high interest rates, the costs of climate change, health, and pension spending as populations age and fractious politics are stoking fears of a financial market crisis in big, developed economies. A surge in government borrowing costs has put high debt in […]

Map of regional temperature anomaly and heat-related mortality rate in Europe during the summer of 2022. a, Regional temperature anomaly (°C) averaged over the summer. b–f, Regional heat-related mortality rate (summer deaths per million) aggregated over the summer for the whole population (b), women aged 65–79 years (c), men aged 65–79 years (d), women aged 80+ years (e) and men aged 80+ years (f). Summer refers to the 14-week period between 30 May and 4 September 2022 (weeks 22–35). Graphic: Ballester, et al., 2023 / Nature Medicine

July 23, 2023

Study finds possibility that more Europeans died because of heat in 2022 than any year in recorded history

By Alice Park 10 July 2023 (TIME) – As the Earth continues to warm, the rising temperatures are contributing to a number of health conditions that are in turn driving up mortality. And for the first time, scientists have figured out a more detailed way to estimate how many deaths can be attributed to heat. […]

Graphic showing the years in which the gender gap will be closed in various world regions, as measured in the year 2023. In Latin America, the gap is estimated to close in 53 years. In East Asia and the Pacific, the gap is estimated to close in 189 years. Graphic: World Economic Forum

June 27, 2023

It could take 131 years for the world to close the gender gap – “Not only are millions of women and girls losing out on economic access and opportunity, but these reversals also have wide-ranging consequences for the global economy”

By Alicia Wallace 20 June 2023 Minneapolis (CNN) – Progress on achieving global gender equality is languishing. A new report from the World Economic Forum estimates that women won’t attain parity with men for another 131 years. In other words, not until 2154. The overall gender gap — a measurement of equality across the realms of the economy, politics, […]

A view of the drought that affected the Los Bermejales reservoir, which was at 18 percent of its capacity in Arenas del Rey in Granada, Spain, on 13 May 2023. Photo: Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

June 11, 2023

Europe is struggling with a precarious water situation ahead of another drought-riven summer in 2023 – “A few years ago, I would never have imagined that water would be a problem here in Europe, especially in Germany or Austria”

By Sam Meredith 5 June 2023 (CNBC) – European policymakers are battling to get to grips with a growing water crisis ahead of what researchers fear could be yet another climate crisis-fueled summer of drought. Water resources in Europe are growing increasingly scarce because of the deepening climate emergency, with record-breaking temperatures through spring and a historic winter […]

Change Over Time in (a) US Life Expectancy and (b) US Life Expectancy Gap and Rank Relative to Populous Countries (Population>500000), 1950-2021. Phase 1=1950–1954; phase 2=1955–1973; phase 3=1974–1982; phase 4=1983–2009; phase 5=2010–2019; phase 6=2020–2021. Bars plot the difference in life expectancy between the United States and the populous country (population >500000) with the highest life expectancy in the given year. The country with the highest life expectancy was Norway in 1950–1962 and 1976–1977, Sweden in 1963 and 1965–1975, the Netherlands in 1964, Japan in 1978–2007, Macao in 2008–2010, and Japan in 2011–2021. The line graph plots US rank relative to other populous countries, with higher rank denoting lower US life expectancy. Source: Author’s calculations based on UN data. Graphic: Steven H. Woolf MD, MPH, 2023 / AJPH

June 3, 2023

U.S. has been falling behind on life expectancy for decades – Between 1933 and 2021, 56 countries achieved higher life expectancy than U.S. – “Americans are sicker and die earlier than people in dozens of countries”

By Olivia Trani 1 June 2023 (VCU) – When it comes to public health, the United States is at a disadvantage compared with other developed countries. Americans experience more illness, have less access to health care and pay more for health services than citizens in other high-income countries. Americans also die earlier – and have been doing so […]

The Butachimie chemical plant sits in Chalempe, eastern France, Tuesday, 8 November 2022. Photo: Jean-Francois Badias / AP Photo

May 30, 2023

Cracks emerging in Europe’s united front to battle climate change – “You can’t say I support the Green Deal, but not the ambition to restore nature. It’s not ‘à la carte menu.’”

By Samuel Petrequin 27 May 2023 BRUSSELS (AP News) – The European Union has been at the forefront of the fight against climate change and the protection of nature for years. But it now finds itself under pressure from within to pause new environmental efforts amid fears they will hurt the economy. With the next European […]

State of press freedom worldwide 2013-2023. Changes in 180 countries and territories evaluated by RSF since 2013. In 2023, the situation was “very serious” in 31 countries, “difficult” in 42, “problematic” in 55, and “good” or “satisfactory” in 52 countries. In other words, the environment for journalism was “bad” in seven out of ten countries, and satisfactory in only three out of ten. Graphic: RSF

May 9, 2023

2023 World Press Freedom Index – Journalism threatened by fake content industry – The environment for journalism is “bad” in seven out of ten countries, satisfactory in only three out of ten

3 May 2023 (RSF) – According to the 2023 World Press Freedom Index – which evaluates the environment for journalism in 180 countries and territories and is published on World Press Freedom Day (3 May) – the situation is “very serious” in 31 countries, “difficult” in 42, “problematic” in 55, and “good” or “satisfactory” in 52 countries. In […]

Global annual mean temperature anomalies with respect to pre-industrial conditions (1850-1900) for six global temperature data sets (1850-2022). Graphic: WMO

April 30, 2023

WMO annual report highlights continuous advance of climate change – “While greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the climate continues to change, populations worldwide continue to be gravely impacted by extreme weather and climate events”

Geneva, 21 April 2023 (WMO) – From mountain peaks to ocean depths, climate change continued its advance in 2022, according to the annual report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Droughts, floods, and heatwaves affected communities on every continent and cost many billions of dollars. Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest extent on record […]

Desdemona Despair

Category: Germany