Larsen C responds to the calving of Iceberg A68

By Adrian Luckman and Martin O’Leary 19 July 2017 (Project MIDAS) – On July 12 2017, data from the Sentinel-1 satellite confirmed the calving from the Larsen C Ice Shelf of Iceberg A68, a slab of ice 5,800 km in area and weighing more than 1 trillion tonnes. New Sentinel-1 interferometry data from July 18 […]

Carbon in atmosphere is rising, even as emissions stabilize

By Justin Gillis 26 June 2017 CAPE GRIM, Tasmania (The New York Times) – On the best days, the wind howling across this rugged promontory has not touched land for thousands of miles, and the arriving air seems as if it should be the cleanest in the world. But on a cliff above the sea, […]

Burning fossil fuels almost ended all life on Earth – “It should be a national priority to study the Permian to figure out what the hell happened”

By Peter Brannen 11 July 2017 (The Atlantic) – “Who you with?” “I’m a science journalist,” I said, jolted from my reverie on the shoulder of I-68 in Maryland, where a crowd of geologists had gathered on a field trip to poke at some rocks revealed by the highway department’s dynamite. The rocks, slate gray […]

Measles kills 35 across Europe – “Every death or disability caused by this vaccine-preventable disease is an unacceptable tragedy”

By James Gallagher 11 July 2017(BBC News) – Thirty-five people have died in the past year from measles outbreaks across Europe, the World Health Organization has warned.It described the deaths – which can be prevented with vaccination – as an “unacceptable tragedy”.A six-year-old boy in Italy was the latest to die from the infection. More […]

NOAA’s greenhouse gas index up 40 percent since 1990 – Carbon dioxide increase is accelerating

11 July 2017 (NOAA) – NOAA’s Annual Greenhouse Gas Index, which tracks the warming influence of long-lived greenhouse gases, has increased by 40 percent from 1990 to 2016 — with most of that attributable to rising carbon dioxide levels, according to NOAA climate scientists. [cf. Graph of the Day: NOAA annual greenhouse gas index (AGGI), […]

Today’s extreme heat may become norm within a decade

By Andrea Thompson 14 July 2017 (Climate Central) – When 2015 blew the record for hottest year out of the water, it made headlines around the world. But a heat record that was so remarkable only two years ago will be just another year by 2040 at the latest, and possibly as early as 2020, […]

2016 saw a record 200 killings of people defending their land, forests, and rivers against destructive industries

13 July 2017 (Global Witness) – It has never been deadlier to take a stand against companies that steal land and destroy the environment. Our new report Defenders of the Earth found that nearly four people were murdered every week in 2016 protecting their land and the natural world from industries like mining, logging and […]

Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf calves trillion ton iceberg

By Martin O’Leary and Adrian Luckman 12 July 2017 (Project MIDAS) – A one trillion tonne iceberg – one of the biggest ever recorded – has calved away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The calving occurred sometime between Monday 10th July and Wednesday 12th July 2017, when a 5,800 square km section […]

New heat wave bakes Southwest U.S.

By Dr. Jeff Masters 8 July 2017 (Wunderground) – After suffering through the most intense heat wave ever to affect the region so early in the year during mid-June, the Southwest U.S. is once again roasting in record heat. On Friday, Death Valley, California hit 127°–a tie with 20 June 2017 as the hottest temperature […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of forest fires near Lake Baikal in June 2017

By Mike Carlowicz 25 June 2017 (NASA) – Wildfires spread across southern Siberia in late June 2017. According to Russian state media, at least 27,000 hectares (100 square miles) were burning in the Irkutsk Oblast region. Another 27,000 hectares burned in neighboring states and regions. More than 200 firefighters were sent to control the blazes. […]

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