Raging wildfire north of downtown Los Angeles grows to one of the largest blazes in city history

By Ruben Vives, Andrea Castillo, and Alene Tchekmedyian 2 September 2017 (The Los Angeles Times) – A brush fire in the Verdugo Mountains north of downtown Los Angeles has burned more than 5,000 acres, making it one of the largest fires in the city’s history and one that officials warn could grow larger if erratic weather […]

Histograms of daily maximum wet-bulb temperature, TWmax (°C), and maps of the ensemble averaged 30-year TWmax. (A) The histograms are generated for the most populous cities in the selected regions for each scenario: HIST (blue), RCP4.5 (green), and RCP8.5 (red). Values within each panel correspond to the 2- and 25-year return period of the bias-corrected annual maxima of TWmax, and the x and y axes indicate TWmax (°C) and the number of occurrences on a logarithmic scale, respectively. The background image was obtained from NASA Visible Earth. (B to D) The spatial distributions of bias-corrected ensemble averaged 30-year TWmax for each GHG scenario: HIST (1976–2005) (B), RCP4.5 (2071–2100) (C), and RCP8.5 (2071–2100) (D). Graphic: Im, et al., 2017 / Science Advances

Climate change to cause humid heatwaves that will kill even healthy people

By Damian Carrington 2 August 2017 (The Guardian) – Extreme heatwaves that kill even healthy people within hours will strike parts of the Indian subcontinent unless global carbon emissions are cut sharply and soon, according to new research. Even outside of these hotspots, three-quarters of the 1.7 billion population – particularly those farming in the Ganges […]

Michael Mann: I’m a scientist who has gotten death threats. I fear what may happen under Trump.

By Michael E. Mann 16 December 2016 (Washington Post) – My Penn State colleagues looked with horror at the police tape across my office door. I had been opening mail at my desk that afternoon in August 2010 when a dusting of white powder fell from the folds of a letter. I dropped the letter, […]

The world is about to install 700 million air conditioners – “Demand for cooling, particularly in hot climates, is going to be an incredible driver of electricity requirements”

By Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis 31 May 2016 (Washington Post) – As summer temperatures finally settle in, many in the United States take it for granted that they can dial down the thermostat: Americans use 5 percent of all of their electricity cooling homes and buildings. In many other countries, however — including countries […]

Estimated disruptions to Earth’s great elemental cycles

23 March 2016 (Desdemona Despair) – Back in 2011, Desdemona was asked by a local church to give a presentation on the condition of the world’s oceans (State of the Oceans 2011 video; pdf slide deck; PowerPoint). As part of the talk, Des wanted estimates for human disturbances to the great cycles of elements on […]

Status of polar bear populations for 2014

24 January 2015 (Polar Bear Specialist Group) – The present table was discussed during late fall and early winter 2014, and agreed upon by the group on 20 January 2015. This status table will be updated whenever there is new information available that is considered credible and valid by the group. This year’s status table […]

Carbon footprint of Burning Man: 27,000 tons of CO2 per year

By Katie Herzog 21 August 2015 (Grist) – Get ready, folks! The most magical time of year is almost upon us. That’s right: Burning Man. Lest you mistake me for a tech billionaire with a penchant for fuzzy boots, hula hoops, group showers, and dudes named Dusty Unicorn — au contraire. The reason I love […]

Graph of the Day: Carbon emissions and human population, 1751-2013

13 June 2015 (Desdemona Despair) – Data show that growth of human carbon emissions in the modern era is pretty close to exponential (cf. “Graph of the Day: Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels, 1751-2013”). But what about carbon emissions per person? The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) maintains a database of fossil-fuel CO2 […]

The deadly combination of heat and humidity

By Robert Kopp, Jonathan Buzan, and Matthew Huber 6 June 2015 (The New York Times) – The most deadly weather-related disasters aren’t necessarily caused by floods, droughts or hurricanes. They can be caused by heat waves, like the sweltering blanket that’s taken over 2,500 lives in India in recent weeks. Temperatures broke 118 degrees in parts […]

Local CFA firefighter David Tree shares his water with an injured Australian koala at Mirboo North after wildfires swept through the region, 9 February 2009. The koala, later named “Sam” suffered second- and third-degree burns to her paws in the February fires and is recovering at the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Victoria state. Photo: Mark Pardew / AP

Remembering Australia’s Black Saturday 2009

9 January 2013 (Desdemona Despair) – In February 2009, Desdemona was new to blogging. The world was still reeling from the global financial collapse caused by the deregulated, automated, shadow banking system – currently valued at $67 trillion and growing! Global warming was fading into the background of the public consciousness. Except in Australia, where […]

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