12 January 2024 (WMO) – The annual average global temperature approached 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels – symbolic because the Paris Agreement on climate change aims to limit the long-term temperature increase (averaged over decades rather than an individual year like 2023) to no more than 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Six leading international datasets used for […]
By Victoria Waldersee 11 January 2024 (Reuters) – Risk specialists see extreme weather and misinformation as most likely to trigger a global crisis in the next couple of years, a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey released on Wednesday said. While extreme weather was identified as the bigger risk in 2024, misinformation and disinformation came second […]
By Sibi Arasu 5 January 2024 (AP) – Azerbaijan’s ecology minister has been named to lead the United Nations’ annual climate talks later this year, prompting concern from some climate activists over his former ties to the state oil company in a major oil-producing nation. Mukhtar Babayev’s appointment was announced on X by the United […]
By Alistair Smout 5 January 2024 LONDON (Reuters) – A former British energy minister on Friday said he would quit the ruling Conservatives and stand down as a lawmaker over the government climate record, rebuking plans to allow more North Sea oil and gas licencing. Chris Skidmore’s resignation will trigger a by-election to replace him […]
By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff 2 January 2024 (The Washington Post) – The Great Lakes had the smallest amount of ice cover this New Year’s Day in at least the past 50 years and are on track to see less than the seasonal average this winter, according to government data. The decline comes during a five-decade drop […]
By Nathan Rennolds 6 January 2024 (Business Insider) – A bluefin tuna sold for 114.2 million Japanese yen, or nearly $800,000, at Tokyo’s largest fish market is set to be served at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Japan. The 525-pound fish, caught off of the coast of Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, fetched the fourth-highest price […]
By Gabrielle Canon 4 January 2024 (The Guardian) – In the first snow survey of the season, California came up short – just 25% of the historical average – despite a spate of strong storms that caused flooding and landslides along the coast in late December. On Tuesday, officials measured a depth of just 7.5in at a […]
2 January 2024 (Met Office) – 2023 was provisionally the second warmest year on record for the UK, with Wales and Northern Ireland having their respective warmest years in a series from 1884. UK climate continues to change UK mean temperatures have been shifting over the decades as a result of human-induced climate change. The […]
By Lauren Girgis 4 January 2024 (Seattle Times) – If you like the snow, this unusually warm winter likely isn’t for you. Snow levels this season have been “marginal, to say the least,” said Rune Harkestad, president of Kittitas County’s Kongsberger Ski Club, based east of Snoqualmie Pass. December did bring a fair share of […]
By Victor Maus and Tim T. Werner 3 January 2024 (Nature) – Mining is a crucial industry — from iron and copper to gravel and sand, we depend on it for the basic building blocks of the modern world. It is a fast changing sector, as the clean energy transition and digitalization boost demand for […]