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 […]

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 […]

Germany’s failed climate goals: A wake-up call for governments everywhere

By William Wilkes, Hayley Warren and Brian Parkin 15 August 2018 (Bloomberg) – Germany, the nation that did more than any other to unleash the modern renewable-energy industry, is likely to fall short of its goals for reducing harmful carbon-dioxide emissions even after spending over 500 billion euros ($580 billion) by 2025 to overhaul its […]

Melting ice uncovers 1946 wreckage of U.S. plane in Swiss glacier

By Palko Karasz 16 August 2018 LONDON (The New York Times) – After an emergency landing on a Swiss glacier, the group of 12 Americans drank melted snow and survived on rations of one chocolate bar a person until daring pilots shuttled them to safety after five days marooned on the ice.Relics of that harrowing […]

Heat wave smashes all-time heat records in Portugal and Spain – Portugal battles wildfires, and France nuclear reactors shut down due to heat – “We are facing a new reality”

Dr. Jeff Masters 5 August 2018 (Weather Underground) – The future-is-now Northern Hemisphere summer of 2018 roasted a new portion of Europe with all-time record heat over the weekend: Portugal and Spain. Portugal’s capital city Lisbon hit 111.2°F (44°C) on Saturday, its hottest temperature ever recorded. The previous record was 109.4°F (43°C) in 1981. Portugal’s […]

All-time heat records fall in Korea – Portugal temperature may hit 51°C (123.8°F) in some areas

Dr. Jeff Masters 1 August 2018 (Weather Underground) – Wednesday, 1 August 2018, was the hottest day in Korean history, as a withering heat wave toppled all-time heat records throughout the peninsula. South Korea set a new all-time heat record of 41.0°C (105.8°F) at Hongcheon, a town in South Korea’s northeastern province of Gangwon. This […]

Devastating drought, heat wave hammer farmers across northern Europe – “We haven’t seen anything like this for the last 150 years or so”

By Rachel Elbaum 1 August 2018 LONDON (NBC News) – Brown is the color of summer in northern Europe this year. Fields that are usually covered in lush green grass have now turned to dust, trees are shedding their leaves and animals eating dry hay or grain instead of grazing in pastures. Farmers in around […]

How record heat wreaked havoc on four continents – “This is not a future scenario. It is happening now.”

By Somini Sengupta, Tiffany May, and Zia ur-Rehman 30 July 2018 (The New York Times) – Expect more. That’s the verdict of climate scientists to the record-high temperatures this spring and summer in vastly different climate zones. The continental United States had its hottest month of May and the third-hottest month of June. Japan was […]

Early August to bring dangerous heat wave to western Europe – “It is not out of the question for temperatures to reach 49 C (120 F) in southwestern Spain and parts of southern Portugal”

By Kristina Pydynowski 30 July 2018 (AccuWeather) – Dangerous heat is expected to expand across and have a firm grip on western Europe for the first several days of August. While the core of the heat will be focused on the area around Germany on Tuesday, temperatures will be on the rise elsewhere across western […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial