heatwave – Page 16 – Desdemona Despair

Antarctic sea ice extent for 25 February 2022, was 1.92 million square kilometers (741,000 square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Graphic: National Snow and Ice Data Center

April 3, 2022

WMO: Antarctic heat, rain, and ice prompt concern – “This event is rewriting record books and our expectations about what is possible in Antarctica”

1 April 2022 (WMO) – Record high temperatures, rain and the collapse of an ice shelf in East Antarctica have prompted questions and concern about the possible role of climate change in the coldest and driest part of the world. Record high temperatures, rain and the collapse of an ice shelf in East Antarctica have […]

This photo from 7 March 2022 shows coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of the Australian state of Queensland. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef experienced its sixth massive bleaching event in 2022 as climate change has warmed the ocean, raising concerns over whether one of the world’s natural wonders is nearing a tipping point. Photo: Glenn Nicholls / AFP / Getty Images

March 27, 2022

Global warming deals another blow to the Great Barrier Reef – “This is a first mass bleaching event during a La Niña”

By Darryl Fears 26 March 2022 (The Washington Post) – Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its sixth massive bleaching event as climate change has warmed the ocean, raising concerns over whether one of the world’s natural wonders is nearing a tipping point. Reef managers confirmed Friday that aerial surveys detected catastrophic bleaching on 60 […]

Satellite view of the Conger/Glenzer (Bowman Island) ice shelf collapse in March 2022. Scientists are concerned because the ice shelf collapsed in East Antarctica, an area that had long been thought to be stable. The collapse in March 2022 was the first time scientists have ever seen an ice shelf collapse in this cold area of Antarctica. Photo: NASA / AP

March 27, 2022

Thinning Antarctic ice shelf finally crumbles after extreme heatwave – “The Glenzer Conger ice shelf presumably had been there for thousands of years, and it’s never going to be there again”

By Isla Binnie 25 March 2022 (Reuters) – An East Antarctica ice shelf disintegrated this month following a period of extreme heat in the region, according to scientists. Satellite images show the 1,200 square-kilometre Conger Ice Shelf collapsed completely on or around March 15. “Possible it hit its tipping point following the #Antarctic #AtmosphericRiver and […]

Daily high surface temperature at Dome C at the top of the Antarctic Plateau, on 18 March 2022. Graphic: Dr. Robert Rohde

March 22, 2022

Graph of the Day: Daily high surface temperature at Dome C in Antarctica, 18 March 2022

By Dr. Robert Rohde 21 March 2022 (Twitter) – Heat wave in Antarctica, +38 °C (+68 °F) above normal. That’s not an error, or a typo. The remote research station at Dome C recorded a temperature nearly 40°C above normal for this time of year, beating the previous March record by a startling 20°C. […] […]

Aerial view of a wildfire burning in a large swath of land west of Fort Worth, Texas on Friday, 18 March 2022, in what fire officials call the Eastland Complex. Photo: NBC 5 News

March 20, 2022

Texas wildfire kills 1, as officials worry extreme drought could worsen conditions – “In the wetter parts of Texas, there will be more fuel, and things will dry out more rapidly”

By Jack Douglas and Jacob Bogage 19 March 2022 CARBON, Texas (The Washington Post) – All Raquel Robles could do was watch the video on her phone, horrified and helpless, as first smoke, then fire, moved up her driveway and then destroyed the house she and her family had lived in for 13 years. Flames […]

Simulation of 2m temperature anomaly centered over Antarctica on 18 March 2022. Parts of eastern Antarctica saw temperatures hover 70 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) above normal for more than three days. On 18 March 2022, the surface temperature in Vostok leaped to 0°F (-17.7 Celsius), the warmest it’s been there during March since record keeping began 65 years ago. It broke the previous monthly record by a staggering 27 degrees Fahrenheit (15 Celsius). Graphic: WeatherBell

March 20, 2022

It’s 70°F (40°C) warmer than normal in eastern Antarctica – “This event is completely unprecedented and upended our expectations about the Antarctic climate system”

By Jason Samenow and Kasha Patel 18 March 2022 (The Washington Post) – The coldest location on the planet has experienced an episode of warm weather this week unlike any ever observed, with temperatures over the eastern Antarctic ice sheet soaring 50 to 90 degrees above normal. The warmth has smashed records and shocked scientists. […]

Global and regional risks for increasing levels of global warming. (a) Global surface temperature change increase relative to the period 1850-1900. (b) Reasons for concern (RFC) impact and risk assessments assuming low-to-no adaptation. (c) Impacts and risks to terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. (d) Impacts and risks to ocean ecosystems. (e) Climate-sensitive health outcomes under three adaptation scenarios. Graphic: IPCC

March 12, 2022

Pacific Northwest heatwave in 2021 was a glimpse of global warming in North America – “We’re exposed to untold damage”

By Gillian Flaccus 1 March 2022 PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) – The U.S. Pacific Northwest was in the throes of a record-shattering heat wave last summer when a woman in her 70s was wheeled into an emergency room with symptoms of a life-threatening heat stroke. Desperate to cool her, Dr. Alexander St. John grabbed a body […]

Estimated economic impacts of unmitigated climate change on seven geographical regions in the United States. Over the next 50 years, climate change-induced economic losses in the U.S. could total approximately $14.5 trillion in present-value terms. Graphic: Deloitte

February 7, 2022

Climate change-induced losses in the U.S. could total $14.5 trillion by 2070 – “In a climate-damaged world of 2070, the U.S. could lose nearly 4 percent of GDP in that year alone”

By Rachel Koning Beals 26 January 2022 (MarketWatch) – Definitive and deliberate climate action from Wall Street to Washington and beyond could deliver a $3 trillion gain to the U.S. economy over the next 50 years to 2070. But it’s the toll of inaction that would cost the nation nearly five times that amount, a […]

Cumulative global insured losses by peril in 2021. Aggregated costs for insurers have been largely dominated by the Tropical Cyclone and Severe Weather perils this century. The two perils combined for more than $1 trillion, or 60 percent of the total cumulative industry losses, of which roughly 74 percent was incurred in the United States. The Severe Convective Storm peril has also increasingly separated itself as accounting for the highest number of billion-dollar events. Graphic: Aon

January 27, 2022

Aon: 2021 was third costliest year on record for weather and climate-related events – Germany, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, and China recorded the costliest insurance industry events on record

CHICAGO, 25 January 2022 (Aon) – Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today published its 2021 Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Insight, which evaluates the increasing frequency and severity of disruptive natural disasters and how their resulting economic losses are protected globally. This data serves as the foundation for insights that can help […]

Map showing the extent of the heatwave in Western Australia on 13 January 2022, with large areas seeing temperatures of more than 45°C (113°F). A small town in Western Australia’s Pilbara endured the hottest temperature recorded in Australia in 62 years, with the mercury soaring toward 50 degrees across most of the region. In Onslow it hit 50.7 degrees at 2.26pm, the hottest day in Australia history since 1960, when temperatures in Oodnadatta Airport in South Australia also hit 50.7. Graphic: Bureau of Meteorology MetEye

January 14, 2022

Hottest temperature in Australia since 1960 recorded in Western Australia’s north as mercury soars to 50.7°C (123.3°F)

By Holly Thompson 13 January 2022 (WA Today) – A small town in Western Australia’s Pilbara endured the hottest temperature recorded in Australia in 62 years on Thursday, with the mercury soaring towards 50 degrees across most of the region. In Onslow it hit 50.7 degrees at 2.26pm, the hottest day in Australian history since […]