Fine-resolution transect across the abyssal boundary current near the Orkney Passage sill, showing squared vertical shear (color), neutral density (black contours), and rate of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation (ε, shaded bars). Graphic: Garabato, et al., 2019 / PNAS

First “Boaty McBoatface” outing sheds new light on the warming ocean abyss

17 June 2019 (University of Southampton) – The first mission involving the autonomous submarine vehicle Autosub Long Range (better known as Boaty McBoatface) has for the first time shed light on a key process linking increasing Antarctic winds to rising sea temperatures. Data collected from the expedition, published today in the scientific journal PNAS, will […]

Maps indicating the number of high monthly temperature records set per decade during the period 2070–2099. a–d, Number of years with at least one month during the year setting a high monthly temperature record (RCP8.5 (a), RCP2.6 (b)), and total number of months setting high temperature records (RCP8.5 (c), RCP2.6 (d)). Multi-model means. Graphic: Power and Delage, 2019 / Nature Climate Change

Most of the world faces record-high temperatures every year without serious climate action

By Brandon Specktor 17 June 2019 (Live Science) – When I say, “how about that heat wave,” perhaps you think of the western United States, where temperatures last week soared above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius), smashing dozens of historical heat records from Oregon to Arizona. Or maybe you think of India — where intense heat […]

This forecast for 6 June 2019 shows the temperature anomaly (difference from normal) in India. Red shades show areas where the temperature is hotter than normal. Graphic: WeatherBell Analytics

Indian villages lie empty as drought forces thousands to flee – Sick and elderly left to fend for themselves – No water left in 35 major dams

By Sam Relph 11 June 2019 DELHI (The Guardian) – Hundreds of Indian villages have been evacuated as a historic drought forces families to abandon their homes in search of water. The country has seen extremely high temperatures in recent weeks. On Monday the capital, Delhi, saw its highest ever June temperature of 48C. In Rajasthan, […]

Satellite view of East Island, Hawaii before (top) and shortly after (bottom) category 5 Hurricane Walaka in October 2018. Source: Maxar Technologies. Graphic: Jiachuan Wu / NBC News

Three islands disappeared in the past year – The same forces put coastlines around the world at risk – “The sooner we start thinking about this, the less painful it’s going to be”

By Denise Chow 9 June 2019 (NBC News) – Anote Tong can remember when Tebunginako, on the central Pacific island nation of Kiribati, was a thriving village. But beginning in the 1970s, the tide started inching closer to the houses in the village. Over the years, as strong winds whipped up monster waves and climate […]

Erosion in Akiak, Alaska swallowed 75 to 100 feet of Kuskokwim River banks along the village on 20 May 2019. Photo: Ivan Ivan / City of Akiak / KYUK News

Alaska is melting and it’s likely to accelerate global heating – “Every year there’s a new temperature record, it’s getting worse and worse and you feel like a broken record saying it”

By Oliver Milman 14 June 2019 (The Guardian) – A city in western Alaska has lost a huge stretch of riverbank to erosion that may turn it into an island, amid renewed warnings from scientists over the havoc triggered by the accelerating melting of the state’s ice and permafrost. Residents of the small city of […]

One-in-30-year heat-related mortality that is avoidable by stabilizing future warming at the 1.5° and 2°C Paris Agreement thresholds rather than 3°C. The point estimates show the mean 1-in-30-year mortality level across 101 plausible exposure-response relationships, whereas the error bars show the 95% eCI accounting for uncertainties from internal climate variability and the exposure-response relationship. All estimates assume constant population. Confidence intervals that do not include 0 (dotted line on each panel) indicate a statistically significant number of avoidable deaths. The size of each bubble on the central map is proportional to the square root of the city’s population in July 2016. The color of each bubble indicates the city’s projected population change between 2015 and 2040. Graphic: Lo, et al., 2019 / Science Advances

Adjusting carbon emissions to the Paris climate commitments would prevent thousands of heat-related deaths per city – “Compelling evidence for the heat-related health benefits of limiting global warming to 1.5°C”

5 June 2019 (University of Bristol) – Thousands of annual heat-related deaths could be potentially avoided in major US cities if global temperatures are limited to the Paris Climate Goals compared with current climate commitments, a new study led by the University of Bristol has found. The research, published today in the journal Science Advances, is […]

Aerial view of melting permafrost near a research site in Arctic Canada. The unprecedented melt rate creates thermokarst, an irregular landscape dotted by lakes, holes, and mounds. Photo: Louise Farquharson

Arctic permafrost melting 70 years sooner than expected, study finds – “This change is unprecedented on this kind of time scale”

By Jan Wesner Childs 14 June 2019 (The Weather Channel) – Scientists studying climate change expected layers of permafrost in the Canadian Arctic to melt by the year 2090. Instead, it’s happening now. A new study published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters revealed that unusually warm summers in the Canadian High Arctic between 2003 […]

New York State Attorney General Letitia James holds a press conference at the Office of the Attorney General in New York, 28 March 2019. The New York attorney general's office did not engage in prosecutorial misconduct in investigating Exxon for climate fraud, a judge ruled on Wednesday 12 June 2019. Photo: Timothy A. Clary / Getty Images

Judge rejects Exxon challenges to New York’s climate fraud suit – No prosecutorial misconduct in Exxon climate fraud investigation

By Karen Savage 12 June 2019 (Climate Liability News) – A judge dismissed several claims by Exxon to stop New York State’s lawsuit against the oil giant for alleged climate fraud, including charges of prosecutorial misconduct and conflict of interest. New York Supreme Court Judge Barry Ostrager on Wednesday rejected claims by Exxon that the New York attorney general’s […]

List environmental regulations rolled back by the Trump administration, updated on 7 June 2019. Graphic: The New York Times

83 environmental rules being rolled back under Trump

By Nadja Popovich, Livia Albeck-ripka, and Kendra Pierre-Louis 7 June 2019 (The New York Times) – President Trump has made eliminating federal regulations a priority. His administration, with help from Republicans in Congress, has often targeted environmental rules it sees as burdensome to the fossil fuel industry and other big businesses. [cf. Trump regulation rollbacks will […]

Indexed trend of feelings of worry, sadness, and stress, 2008-2018. Globally, feelings of sadness, stress, and worry have increased by a combined average of eight percentage points. Data: Gallup World Poll, IEP. Graphic: IEP

Global peacefulness improves for first time in five years, but world still less peaceful than a decade ago

12 June 2019 (IEP) – The 13th edition of the annual Global Peace Index (GPI) report, the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness, reveals that the average level of global peacefulness improved for the first time in five years. However, despite improvement, the world remains considerably less peaceful now than a decade ago, with the […]

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