Can we survive extreme heat? Humans have never lived on a planet this hot, and we’re totally unprepared for what’s to come

Projected change in average surface temperature in Phoenix, Arizona between 2000 and 2050. Graphic: Vox

August 30, 2019

Can we survive extreme heat? Humans have never lived on a planet this hot, and we’re totally unprepared for what’s to come

By Jeff Goodell 27 August 2019 (Rolling Stone) – On a scorching day in downtown Phoenix, when the temperature soars to 115°F or higher, heat becomes a lethal force. Sunshine assaults you, forcing you to seek cover. The air feels solid, a hazy, ozone-soaked curtain of heat. You feel it radiating up from the parking […]

Aerial view of cargo ships stranded on the Lena river in Siberia, 27 August 2019. In the regional capital of Yakutsk, the Lena river water level dropped so suddenly that hundreds of cargo ships and smaller boats were left stranded in the sand. It was this summer’s unusual heat that caused the record drought. Photo: Ruslan Ochirov

August 27, 2019

World’s largest permafrost river dries to a record low – “The abnormal heat recorded in Eastern Siberia in July and August, combined with lack of precipitation caused extremely shallow waters”

27 August 2019 (The Siberian Times) – Lena River fleet cannot sail after abnormal heat causes 2.5 metre water level drop. The current water level means critical delays in the summer ritual delivering vital supplies to Arctic settlements in Yakutia, Russia’s biggest region. Most of its remote corners are only accessible via water, with the […]

Large rivers of melting water form on an ice sheet in western Greenland on 1 August 2019 and drain into moulin holes that empty into the ocean from underneath the ice. The heat wave that smashed high temperature records in five European countries a passed over Greenland, accelerating the melting of the island's ice sheet and causing massive ice loss in the Arctic. Photo: Caspar Haarløv / Into the Ice / AP

August 19, 2019

Bizarre happenings in the Arctic: Lightning, tropical moisture, and more

By Bob Henson 14 August 2019 (Weather Underground) – You’ll have to forgive the Arctic. It’s had a rough summer. Sea ice is running neck and neck with 2012 for the lowest values on record for this time of year. Wildfires are ringing the Arctic, pouring more carbon dioxide into the air than in any comparable period in 17 […]

July 2019 blended land and sea surface temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius and in percentiles. Graphic: NOAA / NCEI

August 15, 2019

July 2019 was Earth’s hottest month in recorded history – 2019 almost certain to be among the five warmest years on record

By Dr. Jeff Masters 15 August 2019 (Weather Underground) – July 2019 was the planet’s warmest July and warmest month in absolute terms since record keeping began in 1880, said NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) on Thursday. Earth’s previous warmest month on record was July 2016. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) rated July 2019 in a […]

Flames consume a tree as wildfires rage in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia, 1 August 2019 Photo: The Siberian Times

August 13, 2019

Massive wildlife tragedy in Siberia as bears and foxes flee taiga, while smaller animals suffocate in smoke – “The climatic situation will deteriorate in Siberia”

By Svetlana Skarbo 1 August 2019 (The Siberian Times) – Predators seek food in villages all around Siberia as climate expert warns of worse fires each year due to soaring rise in temperatures, 10°C above average. Wild animals are turning to humans as they escape gas-chamber-like woods, with wildfires continuing to rage across almost 3 […]

A thermometer show the temperature of over 40 degrees at the Volklingen Ironworks in Volklingen, Germany on 24 July 2019. Photo: Harald Tittel / AFP / Getty Images

August 11, 2019

AccuWeather misleads on global warming and heat waves, a throwback to its past climate denial

By Jason Samenow and Andrew Freedman 9 August 2019 (The Washington Post) – A week after a punishing heat wave torched the eastern two-thirds of the country, setting numerous records, AccuWeather chief executive Joel Myers cast doubt on the scientific finding that heat waves in the United States and elsewhere are worsening because of climate change. […]

Temperature field over Europe on 25 July 2019 12 UTC at 850 hPa (colors) together with 500 hPa (isolines) as obtained from ECMWF analyses. Graphic: ECMWF

August 11, 2019

European heatwave made up to 100 times more likely due to global warming – “The July 2019 heatwave was so extreme over Europe that the observed magnitudes would have been extremely unlikely without climate change”

2 August 2019 (University of Oxford) – Record-breaking July 2019 heatwave would have been extremely unlikely without human-induced climate change in many parts of continental Europe, shows a near real-time analysis from World Weather Attribution and partners including Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI). Over two to four days at the end of July 2019, Western […]

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured an image of thick wildfire smoke swirling over the state on 8 July 2019. Meteorologists in Fairbanks reported visibility had dropped to less than one mile due to smoke, and air quality sensors in the city reported skyrocketing levels of particulates in the air. Photo: NASA Earth Observatory

August 10, 2019

Baked Alaska: State endures warmest month on record in July 2019

By Christopher C. Burt 9 August 2019 (Weather Underground) – July 2019 was the warmest month on record for the state of Alaska, smashing the previous record by almost one full degree Fahrenheit and leaving numerous local records for hottest day and warmest month in the superheated dust. Records for statewide average temperatures date back […]

Land surface temperature over Europe, 25 July 2019, measured by the Copernicus Sentinel3 satellite. Graphic: ESA

August 2, 2019

WMO: July 2019 equaled or surpassed hottest month globally – World is on track for the 2015-2019 period “to be the five hottest years on record”

1 August 2019 (WMO) – According to the new data from the World Meteorological Organization and Copernicus Climate Change Programme, July 2019 at least equalled, if not surpassed, the hottest month in recorded history. This follows the warmest ever June on record. The data from the Copernicus Climate Change Programme, run by the European Centre […]

An artist, moved by what was left behind of his friend's home after a wild fire, used the site as a canvas. Shane Grammer said he was devastated to find out how many people he knows were left homeless by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. His friend, Shane Edwards, agreed to let him create a mural on what remained of his burned-down home. After three hours, Grammer had created a striking image of a beautiful woman that is giving people hope on 4 January 2019. Photo: Inside Edition

August 1, 2019

“Sticker shock” for California wildfire areas as insurance rates double, and policies are dropped – “It’s time to address the impact that more severe weather is having on Americans instead of fighting about climate change”

By Dale Kasler, Ryan Sabalow, and Phillip Reese 18 July 2019 (The Sacramento Bee) – Jennifer Burt knows she lives in a fire-prone community. That’s why she’s done everything she can to fire-proof her home in Meadow Vista, in the bushy, densely wooded Placer County foothills, even installing a sprinkler system on the roof. Yet […]

Desdemona Despair

Category: heatwave