Landsat 8 images from 21 July 2018 (left) and 16 September 2018 (right) illustrating the Taku Glacier transient snowline. The 21 July 2018 snowline is at 975 m and the 16 September 2018 snowline is at 1400 m. Average end-of-summer snowline is 975 m; the 2018 end-of-summer snowline was the highest observed in the 73-year record. Graphic: AMS

State of the Climate in 2018: 2018 was the fourth-hottest year on record, behind 2016, 2015, and 2017

12 August 2019 (NCEI) – A new State of the Climate report [pdf] confirmed that 2018 was the fourth warmest year in records dating to the mid-1800s. Last year was the fourth warmest year on record despite La Niña conditions early in the year and the lack of a short-term warming El Niño influence until […]

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

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 […]

Graphs showing total precipitation averaged across the 48 contiguous U.S. states from January to July, 1895-2019; Statewide rankings for average precipitation for July 2019, as compared to each July since records began in 1895; and Statewide rankings for average temperature for July 2019, as compared to each July since records began in 1895. Graphic: NOAA / NCEI

U.S. racks up wettest calendar year to date in July 2019

By Bob Henson 7 August 2019 (Weather Underground) – The Big U.S. Wet of 2018-19 went on cruise control in July, but the year so far managed to hang on as the nation’s wettest calendar year to date in records going back more than a century, NOAA reported on Wednesday. Averaged across the 48 contiguous states, the […]

A bald eagle, one of the Endangered Species Act’s success stories, near Castle Dale, Utah. Photo: Brandon Thibodeaux / The New York Times

Trump Administration weakens protections for endangered species – “If we make decisions based on short-term economic costs, we’re going to have a whole lot more extinct species”

By Lisa Friedman 12 August 2019 WASHINGTON (The New York Times) – The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would change the way the Endangered Species Act is applied, significantly weakening the nation’s bedrock conservation law credited with rescuing the bald eagle, the grizzly bear and the American alligator from extinction. The changes could […]

Graphs from the “Climate Change and Land 2019” report by the IPCC, showing changes relative to 1961 of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, world agricultural production, food demand, and desertification and land degradation. Graphic: IPCC

World food security increasingly at risk due to “unprecedented” climate change impact, new UN report warns

8 August 2019 (UN News) – More than 500 million people today live in areas affected by erosion linked to climate change, the UN warned on Thursday, before urging all countries to commit to sustainable land use to help limit greenhouse gas emissions before it is too late. Speaking at the launch of a Special […]

Satellite view showing more than 5 million km² of Siberia covered by smoke from wildfires, 11 August 2019. For comparison, the area of EU is about 4.5 million km², and the area of contiguous U.S. about 8.1 million km². Satellite image: MODIS / Terra. Graphic: Antti Lipponen

Image of the Day: Satellite view of 5 million km² of Siberia covered by smoke from wildfires, 11 August 2019

11 August 2019 (Twitter) – This satellite view shows more than 5 million km² of Siberia covered by smoke from wildfires on 11 August 2019. For comparison, the area of the EU is about 4.5 million km², and the area of contiguous U.S. about 8.1 million km². Satellite image: MODIS / Terra. Graphic: Antti Lipponen […]

Annual increase in global average sea from 1900 to present. The blue line shows data from the tide gauges, while the red is from satellite altimetry. Graphic: Carbon Brief

Global sea level rise began accelerating “30 years earlier” than previously thought

By Ayesha Tandon 5 August 2019 (CarbonBrief) – Global sea level rise began to accelerate in the 1960s, 30 years earlier than suggested by previous assessments, a new study finds. The study, published in Nature Climate Change, introduces a new technique to more accurately determine historical global sea levels by combining two different statistical approaches. […]

Aerial view of Bristol Bay, Alaska. A controversial mining project that was all but killed by the Obama administration is now moving forward under President Trump's EPA. Photo: Jason Ching / CNN

EPA dropped salmon protection after Trump met with Alaska governor – Scientists dumbfounded at gold mine approval that will cause “complete loss of fish habitat” – “We were told to get out of the way and just make it happen”

By Scott Bronstein, Curt Devine, Drew Griffin, and Ashley Hackett 9 August 2019 (CNN) – The Environmental Protection Agency told staff scientists that it was no longer opposing a controversial Alaska mining project that could devastate one of the world’s most valuable wild salmon fisheries just one day after President Trump met with Alaska’s governor, […]

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

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

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 […]

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