Summer weather is getting “stuck” due to Arctic warming – “What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic”

By Jonathan Watts 20 August 2018 (The Guardian) – Summer weather patterns are increasingly likely to stall in Europe, North America, and parts of Asia, according to a new climate study that explains why Arctic warming is making heatwaves elsewhere more persistent and dangerous. Rising temperatures in the Arctic have slowed the circulation of the […]

“Smokestorm” from B.C. wildfires now pushing into Western Washington

By Cliff Mass 19 August 2018 (Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog) – During the next 12 hours there should be a major influx of wildfire smoke into the lower elevations of western Washington. The MODIS satellite imagery around noon showed very dense smoke over eastern WA and the north Cascades, with lesser but substantial […]

Air conditioning use emerges as one of the key drivers of global electricity-demand growth

15 May 2018 (IEA) – The growing use of air conditioners in homes and offices around the world will be one of the top drivers of global electricity demand over the next three decades, according to new analysis by the International Energy Agency that stresses the urgent need for policy action to improve cooling efficiency. […]

Smoke from California wildfires will blow to UK because of tropical storm

By Tom Herbert 18 August 2018 (Metro) – A storm is set to batter Britain with wind and rain, bringing with it smoke from the wildfires in California. Forecasters say a tropical storm is moving eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean and will hit the UK and Ireland today. And smoke from the deadly wildfires in […]

Warming in the North continues as predicted – “One of the ironies is that it takes a disaster to wake people up”

By Ned Rozell 21 June 2018 FAIRBANKS (Daily News-Miner) – Just outside my window here at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, workers are drilling into the asphalt of a parking lot using a truck-mounted rig. They twist a hollow bit 25 feet into the ground and pull up hard, clear evidence of why the blacktop […]

Greenhouse gas feedback discovered in freshwater lakes – “The warming climates that promote the growth of aquatic plants have the potential to trigger a damaging feedback loop in natural ecosystems”

4 May 2018 (University of Cambridge) – Latest research finds plant debris in lake sediment affects methane emissions. The flourishing reed beds created by changing climates could threaten to double the already significant methane production of the world’s northern lakes. A new study of chemical reactions that occur when organic matter decomposes in freshwater lakes […]

Wildfire haze from B.C. wildfires raising air quality concerns across Alberta – Smoke blankets every region in the province

15 August 2018 (CBC News) – It’s going to be another suffocating day in Alberta as smoke from wildfires in B.C. drifts east. Much of the province is, once again, under a blanket of smoke and haze — and there is little relief in the forecast. Environment Canada expects the haze will last for several […]

Photo gallery: British Columbia wildfires turn day into night

By Clare Hennig 15 August 2018 (CBC News) – Nearly 600 fires are burning across British Columbia, covering the sky in flame-coloured haze and blanketing the air with smoke.A provincial state of emergency has been declared.Dozens of evacuation orders and alerts are in effect in the north and central regions, affecting more than 20,000 people.In […]

Afternoon skies look “like midnight” in British Columbia as more than 560 wildfires rage – State of emergency declared across entire province

By Imogen Birchard and John McGill 15 August 2018(CBC Radio) – Trevor Chapman was forced to abandon his trailer park in Fraser Lake, B.C., as the wildfires around his home grew.On Wednesday, the British Columbia government declared a state of emergency. Over 560 fires are burning across the province and thousands of people are under […]

Cliff Mass: Seattle’s worst 24-hour air quality on record

By Cliff Mass 15 August 2018 (Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog) – Air quality in western Washington is very poor right now.Incredibly, in central Puget Sound it is probably the worst in the nearly two-decade observing record of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for any time of the year.I have been here a […]

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