2017 was one of three warmest years on record, international report confirms – Greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level reach all-time highs

2 August 2018 (NOAA) – It’s official: 2017 was the third-warmest year on record for the globe, trailing 2016 and 2015, according to the 28th annual State of the Climate report. The planet also experienced record-high greenhouse gas concentrations as well as rises in sea level. The annual checkup for the planet, led by scientists […]

Wildfire smoke causing hazardous air quality in U.S. West

Dr. Jeff Masters 8 August 2018 (Weather Underground) – Smoke from the raging fires in California has brought dangerously high levels of fine particulate pollution (PM2.5, particles less than 2.5 microns or 0.0001 inch in diameter) to portions of California, Oregon, and Nevada since late July, and wildfire smoke now covers more than half of […]

Puerto Rico government acknowledges hurricane death toll of 1,427 people

By Frances Robles 9 August 2018 SAN JUAN, P.R. (The New York Times) – The government of Puerto Rico has quietly acknowledged in a report posted online that in all likelihood more than 1,400 people died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria — a figure that is more than 20 times the official death toll.Hurricane […]

July 2018 was hottest month in California history – Record-wet in Mid-Atlantic U.S.

By Bob Henson  8 August 2018 (Weather Underground) – July was California’s its hottest month in 124 years of recordkeeping, according to NOAA’s monthly summary of U.S. climate released Wednesday. For the contiguous U.S. as a whole, it was the 11th hottest July on record, with almost every state coming in warmer than average. The […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of smoke plumes towering over California, 6 August 2018

By Adam Voiland 9 August 2018 (NASA) – In July and August 2018, towering plumes of smoke have risen from several fires in northern California. Though heavy rains ended the lengthy drought that parched California, trees and vegetation killed during that dry spell still linger in California’s forests. With all that extra fuel priming the […]

National Geographic: Half of the Great Barrier Reef has been killed by marine heat waves

By Lauren E. James 8 August 2018 (National Geographic) – Half of the Great Barrier Reef has been bleached to death since 2016. Mass coral bleaching, a global problem triggered by climate change, occurs when unnaturally hot ocean water destroys a reef’s colorful algae, leaving the coral to starve. The Great Barrier Reef illustrates how […]

New South Wales in July 2018: Fifth-driest July on record

1 August 2018 (Bureau of Meteorology) – Rainfall was very much below average for most of New South Wales in July 2018, except in the northeast. Daytime temperatures were very much warmer than average, while night time temperatures were mostly cooler than average, including areas of coldest on record in parts of the northwest. Much […]

Recent Australia droughts may be the worst in 800 years

By Mandy Freund, Ben Henley, Kathryn Allen, and Patrick Baker 1 May 2018 (The Conversation) – Australia is a continent defined by extremes, and recent decades have seen some extraordinary climate events. But droughts, floods, heatwaves, and fires have battered Australia for millennia. Are recent extreme events really worse than those in the past? In […]

Record drought in northwestern British Columbia sparks nearly 500 wildfires – Fire crews from New Zealand and Australia brought in – “The drought codes are the highest they’ve ever been at this time of year”

5 August 2018 (The Weather Network) – With the number of fires burning across the province rapidly approaching the 500 mark, officials in British Columbia are recruiting help from out of the province – and even out of the country – as they do battle with 2018’s intense wildfire season. The more than 2,200 crew […]

California’s destructive summer brings blunt talk about global warming – “We are seeing the impacts of climate change now”

By Rong-Gong Lin II and Javier Panzar 5 August 2018 (Los Angeles Times) – At Scripps Pier in San Diego, the surface water reached the highest temperature in 102 years of records, 78.8 degrees.Palm Springs had its warmest July on record, with an average of 97.4 degrees. Death Valley experienced its hottest month on record, […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial