Graph of the Day – Page 9 – Desdemona Despair

Graph showing energy generation mix in China in the first four months of both 2019 and 2023. Data: National Bureau of Statistics of China. Graphic: David Stern and Khalid Ahmed

July 23, 2023

China is pumping out carbon emissions in 2023 as if COVID never happened – “China’s new path seems to be less sustainable than before”

By David Stern and Khalid Ahmed 9 July 2023 (The Conversation) – Carbon emissions from China are growing faster now than before COVID-19 struck, data show, dashing hopes the pandemic may have put the world’s most polluting nation on a new emissions trajectory. We compared emissions in China over the first four months of 2019 […]

Map of regional temperature anomaly and heat-related mortality rate in Europe during the summer of 2022. a, Regional temperature anomaly (°C) averaged over the summer. b–f, Regional heat-related mortality rate (summer deaths per million) aggregated over the summer for the whole population (b), women aged 65–79 years (c), men aged 65–79 years (d), women aged 80+ years (e) and men aged 80+ years (f). Summer refers to the 14-week period between 30 May and 4 September 2022 (weeks 22–35). Graphic: Ballester, et al., 2023 / Nature Medicine

July 23, 2023

Study finds possibility that more Europeans died because of heat in 2022 than any year in recorded history

By Alice Park 10 July 2023 (TIME) – As the Earth continues to warm, the rising temperatures are contributing to a number of health conditions that are in turn driving up mortality. And for the first time, scientists have figured out a more detailed way to estimate how many deaths can be attributed to heat. […]

Map showing the Global Peace Index for 2023. In the period 2022-2023, deaths from global conflict increased by 96 percent to 238,000. 79 countries witnessed increased levels of conflict including Ethiopia, Myanmar, Ukraine, Israel, and South Africa. The global economic impact of violence increased by 17 percent or $1 trillion, to $17.5 trillion in 2022, equivalent to 13 percent of global. Conflicts became more internationalised, with 91 countries now involved in some form of external conflict, up from 58 in 2008. GDP Graphic: IEP

July 23, 2023

Conflict deaths in 2023 at highest level this century – Conflicts are becoming more internationalised, with 91 countries now involved in some form of external conflict, up from 58 in 2008

LONDON, 28 June 2023 (IEP) – Today marks the launch of the 17th edition of the Global Peace Index from international think-tank, the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP). Key results Impact of the war in Ukraine on peacefulness The 17th edition of the annual Global Peace Index (GPI) [pdf], the world’s leading measure of peacefulness, reveals […]

A ghost forest develops atop the Catlett Islands along the north shore of Virginia’s York River. Photo: M. Kirwan / VIMS

July 23, 2023

Ghost forests: coastal forests dying off as sea-level rise accelerates

By Ginger Zee, Daniel Manzo, and Kelly Livingston 6 July 2023 (ABC News) – As people around the world contend this week with the hottest temperatures ever recorded on Earth, more visual evidence of climate change is emerging with the spread of ghost forests. The globe is naturally warming and seas naturally rise, but greenhouse […]

Meridional winds in m/s (contours; purple: southerly, orange: northerly winds, in (a–c, e–g) contours start at an absolute value of 3 m/s and increase/decrease by 3 respectively, in (d, h) contours start an absolute value of 0.5 and increase/decrease by steps of one) and near surface temperature anomalies filled contours during (a–c) wave-7 and (e–g) wave- 5 events relative to the respective climatology in the northern hemisphere summer (JJA) based on (a, e) ERA5 reanalysis (1960–2014), (b, f) historical (1960–2014) and (c, g) future (SSP5-8.5, 2045–2099) bias-adjusted output from CMIP6 simulations (four models). d, h) Difference in meridional winds and temperature response during wave events comparing historical and future patterns in four bias-adjusted CMIP6 models (for twelve non adjusted models see Fig. S6). Hatching shows statistical significance on a 95% confidence level (a, d, e, h) or 100% model agreement in sign (4 out of 4 models, b, c, f, g) While the phase positions and intensity of the wave patterns (line contour) are well represented in the models their surface imprint are considerably underestimated in historical simulations. Changes in the temperature response are identified over North America, Eurasia and East Asia (d, h). Graphic: Kornhuber, et al., 2023 / Nature Communications

July 15, 2023

Study finds climate risk to crops greater than thought – Simultaneous harvest failures across major crop-producing regions threaten global food security – “These types of concurring events are really largely underestimated”

By Kelly Macnamara 4 July 2023 (AFP) – The risks of harvest failures in multiple global breadbaskets have been underestimated, according to a study Tuesday that researchers said should be a “wake up call” about the threat climate change poses to our food systems. Food production is both a key source of planet-warming emissions and […]

Number of mass killings in the United States in 2023 compared with previous years. Data are current to 4 July 2023. Graphic: USA TODAY

July 15, 2023

U.S. on grim pace for gun violence, mass killings in 2023: “The bad year continues”

By Grace Hauck 15 July 2023 (USA TODAY) – An acceleration of mass shootings. More public mass killings. More than 200 people across the nation shot on the Fourth of July. The United States frequently reaches horrific new highs of the gun violence epidemic. The latest way: A deadly six months in what figures to be the […]

A Jet takes flight over downtown Phoenix on 12 July 2023, when the high hit 111 degrees. Nationwide, more than 113 million Americans were under some form of heat alert, the National Weather Service said. The alerts, which included excessive heat warnings and heat advisories, stretched 2,000 miles from Oregon to Louisiana. Photo: Matt York / AP

July 15, 2023

Climate change isn’t a top issue for Democrats or Republicans. Record heat should change that.

By Clifford Young 15 July 2023 (USA TODAY) – Extreme weather events are on the rise. States across the south-central and western U.S. are roasting. New York to New England is dealing with catastrophic floods. After years of drought, California went the opposite way and experienced one of the wettest winters in decades. And the across the country, […]

Map showing OSHA reported heat deaths per 1 million workers in the U.S., 2017-2022. Oklahoma and Arkansas had the highest death rates, at 2.26 / million and 2.1 / million, respectively. Data: OSHA / Census Bureau / Bloomberg Law. Graphic: Jacob Bogage and Eli Tan / The Washington Post

July 15, 2023

Forcing people to work in deadly heat is mostly legal in the U.S. – As the planet records some of its highest average temperatures, workers have barely any legal protections from extreme heat – “They send us with two bottles of water, and that’s it”

By Jacob Bogage and Eli Tan 14 July 2023 (The Washington Post) – The pain usually starts for Karla Perez when the temperature reaches 100 degrees. “When it’s too hot, I feel like vomiting,” said Perez, who has worked landscaping and construction jobs in the Dallas area for the last decade. “My legs are shaking. […]

Map showing forecast surface temperature highs in the United States, 14 July 2023 - 19 July 2023. Graphic: WeatherBell

July 14, 2023

Dangerous, record-setting coast-to-coast heat wave to peak in mid-July 2023 – Relentless heat dome will intensify, threatening all-time records

By Matthew Cappucci 14 July 2023 (The Washington Post) – Mid-July is the hottest time of year for many in the Lower 48 states, but the historically intense heat dome that’s sprawled over the southern and western U.S. is exceptional and pushing temperatures into uncharted territory. Triple-digit temperatures are expected to impact at least 10 […]

A researcher stands in a glacier cave on Svalbard, Norway. In 2023, scientists discovered that as the Arctic warms, shrinking glaciers are exposing bubbling groundwater springs which could provide an underestimated source of the potent greenhouse gas methane. Photo: Gabrielle Kleber

July 8, 2023

Shrinking Arctic glaciers are unearthing a new source of methane – “The amount of methane leaking from the springs we measured will likely be dwarfed by the total volume of trapped gas lying below these glaciers, waiting to escape”

By Catherine Martin-Jones 6 July 2023 (University of Cambridge) – As the Arctic warms, shrinking glaciers are exposing bubbling groundwater springs which could provide an underestimated source of the potent greenhouse gas methane, finds new research published today in Nature Geoscience. The study, led by researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University Centre in Svalbard, […]