Many thanks to my October donor, Cassandra, who suggests this month listening daily to Adagio for Strings (one of the west’s most famous concert pieces) while you read the C & E posts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450 (If you use the Brave browser it can play in the background even when not on that page, plus no ads!).
“When your year runs from September to October, this is what annual temperatures up to 2025 look like.
“We are reaching the point that anyone eyeballing graphs can see acceleration of global warming.
“No more statistics and natural variability corrections needed.” [Leon Simons]
https://x.com/LeonSimons8/status/1978532770684064159
“Will there be a record low global sea-ice maximum this year, beating the record low set just last year?
“The Climate 8-ball is snookered.”
[Prof Eliot Jacobson]
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/1978454411434242544
“Effective October 15, 2025, due to non-renewed funding, NSIDC will suspend and reduce several Ice Sheets Today tools and services…
“Previously-published Ice Sheets Today analysis posts will remain online. The persisting Ice Sheets Today products will be evaluated…”
“Climate change in the Arctic: How melting ice is causing Greenland to ‘shrink’…
“New research from DTU Space, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, says the Danish territory is being “twisted, compressed and stretched” while also slowly drifting northwest.”
“Here’s a closer look at the record low sea ice conditions around Svalbard.
“The ice edge is still close to the 85°N line of latitude along the Atlantic front. That’s a lot of open water into the Barents Sea region! Data from AMSR2.” [Zack Labe]
https://bsky.app/profile/zacklabe.com/post/3m35pj7cx2k2v
“UK must prepare for 2C of global warming by 2050, climate advisors warn…
“It also warns that contingency planning should be in place for a worst-case scenario of 4C warming above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. However, this does not necessarily mean the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C is out of reach.”
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-must-prepare-2c-global-055312874.html
“Thirsty AI mega projects raise alarm in some of Europe’s driest regions…
“Major tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Meta have invested billions of U.S. dollars in new facilities in Spain, for instance, while Google has plans to develop three hubs in Greece’s Attica region.”
“More exceptional heat in Western Mediterranean:
“33.8C in Spain, 33.5C in Portugal, 41C in Algeria, 37C in Morocco. Spain had >30C / 86F 14 days out of 14 this month also in the NORTH. Today another 32.0C at Ourense, Galicia . Summer heat will continue until almost the end of October!.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1978171862518567304
“Rising heat may bring tropical pests to South Africa’s farms, experts warn.
“Experts have warned of the impact of hotter temperatures on South African agriculture. This would include the southward movement of pests from tropical areas into the country. Severe heatwaves of just two days could ruin entire crops.”
“Early snowfall and drought concerns in Türkiye: Warning issued.
“With the arrival of October, Türkiye is experiencing unusual weather events… Critical reservoirs such as Nilufer and Doganci have seen dramatic decreases in water levels. Bursa Metropolitan Municipality has urged residents to conserve water and avoid unnecessary usage.”
“ASIA:RECORD AFTER RECORD:
“The heat persists from Middle East all the way to Oceania. Remarkable heat in CENTRAL ASIA: 35.6C [96.1F] Serhetabat, TURKMENISTAN 630m asl. That’s an average July maximum temperature. Record heat as far as West Papua, INDONESIA! 37.3 Tenah Merah October record.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1978143765245186525
“Water shortage forces Iraq to tighten crop plan…
“Agriculture Ministry advisor Mahdi Dhamad al-Qaisi told Shafaq News that this year’s summer agricultural plan banned rice cultivation, which consumes large amounts of water, as part of efforts to address the shortage.”
https://shafaq.com/amp/en/society/Water-shortage-forces-Iraq-to-tighten-crop-plan
“Iran faces critical water crisis after driest year in five decades…
“Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi highlighted the role of climate change in intensifying the crisis, stating that profound climate shifts may make life more difficult not only in Iran but across the globe. “We must accept that we live in an arid country and adapt to water scarcity,” he said.”
“Families Flee Delhi as Toxic Air Forces ‘Pollution Refugees’ to Relocate.
“For Natasha Uppal and her husband, Delhi’s toxic air became the deciding factor in one of life’s biggest choices — whether to have a child in a city where breathing clean air is a daily struggle. New Delhi, home to more than 30 million people, remains the world’s most polluted capital…”
“Floods devastate paddy crops worth Rs 50 million in Jhapa [Nepal]…
““The flood has caused widespread damage to various crops, but the destruction of rice has been the most severe,” said Bista. “Farmers are facing severe hardship as the floods have washed away paddy that was close to ripening.””
https://english.khabarhub.com/2025/16/501640/
“The Weihe River Basin in Shaanxi Province has experienced its largest flood in recent years, and the peak is about to flow into the Yellow River.”
[Jim Yang]
https://x.com/yangyubin1998/status/1978065514728390887
“CHINA RECORD HEAT:
“Fuzhou had its October hottest night ever: Min 27.6C [81.7F]… New records for mid- October broken in China yesterday and today: Further increase of the heat is expected during the weekend ahead of a much awaited but short relief.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1978476775123402946
“As global warming looms, mikan farmers switching to avocados.
“Rising temperatures are reshaping crop suitability in Japan, with projections indicating that traditional mikan cultivation areas may become increasingly unsuitable, while avocado production zones expand.”
https://east-fruit.com/en/news/as-global-warming-looms-mikan-farmers-switching-to-avocados/
“EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN JAPAN. Another suffocating day after a suffocating night in the South with August-like temperatures.
“New October records: 33.5 [92.3F] Kousa, 33.3 Inukai, 32.7 Chikanaga, 31.7 Tomogashima, 31.5 Fukue, 31.4 Yukuhashi.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1978005627197632908
“South Korea’s Capital Region Experiences Record Autumn Rainfall.
“This year’s summer monsoon was unusually short, but since September, rain has been falling heavily enough to warrant the term “autumn rainy season.” Meanwhile, Jeju Island experienced its latest-ever tropical night.”
“INSANE HEAT IN SOUTH KOREA:
“After a suffocating hot and humid night, Sogwipo (Jeju Island) rose today to 32.3C [90F]. Its Hottest October day in history. Mid October and still AC 24/7. Never happened anything like this. And next days won’t be better. Full summer.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1978051113275244740
“UNBELIEVABLE Almost 40C in Taiwan – 39.3C [102.7F] today at Wagu – TAIWANESE HOTTEST OCTOBER DAY IN HISTORY pulverized.
“Records smashed all over East Asia…
“It’s East Asia’s most extreme event in climatic history.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1978087705998237932
“Woman trapped in collapsed building as storm hits Kuala Langat [Malaysia]…
“Earlier, videos and images of a storm and a ‘tornado-like storm’ that struck a primary school in Banting, Kuala Langat, went viral on social media. Several clips and photos showed severe damage to the school…”
“RECORD HEAT ACROSS S/SE ASIA:
“Tropics keep breaking records everywhere. Today New October records: INDONESIA: 35.8 [96.4F] Bengkulu High Min 27.3 Ranai; PHILIPPINES: High Mins: 27.6 Calayan, 26.5 Calapan; THAILAND: High Min: 27.4 Koh Samui; BANGLADESH: 37.0 Netrokona Sedar; INDIA: High Min:28.0 Golaghat.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1978485331402928226
“The ocean’s ‘wall of death’…
“A 2014 analysis of about 9,000 discarded nets that washed up on Australia’s northern coast estimated ghost nets had killed between 4,866 and 14,600 sea turtles in the year before they made land… Many nets will drift for longer than a year… “Once they’re at sea, they continue to float through the ocean, making a wall of death…””
“Australian Tropical Forests’ Biomass Becomes Carbon Source.
“Long considered critical carbon sinks that mitigate climate change effects, these forests have transitioned over recent decades into net carbon sources. This shift calls into question prevailing assumptions about tropical forest resilience and carbon sequestration under future climate scenarios.”
https://bioengineer.org/australian-tropical-forests-biomass-becomes-carbon-source/
“A coroner has expressed his “horror” about the lack of modern river gauge infrastructure around an inland NSW community three years after it was smashed by record-breaking floods.
“A coronial inquest is examining the deaths of 85-year-old Les Vugec and Diane Smith, 60, in the floods that hit Eugowra on November 14, 2022.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-16/eugowra-inquest-day-four/105898058
“Sydney is on track to experience the hottest October on record thanks to a rare Antarctic weather event.
“The NSW capital typically experiences an average maximum temperature of 22.2 degrees during October, however Sydney has experienced far higher temperatures over the first half of this month – with the average reaching as high as 27.2 degrees.”
“Highways still closed in Waikato, Taranaki after flooding, slips [NZ].
“Several state highways across northern Taranaki and Waikato remain closed today as rising river levels threaten roads already damaged by yesterday’s heavy rainfall… Communities were cut off in parts yesterday due to torrential rain, which caused widespread road closures.”
https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/10/15/highways-still-closed-in-waikato-taranaki-after-flooding-slips/
“At least 14 people have died after torrential rainfall led to the collapse of a Venezuelan gold mine.
“The National Risk System announced on Monday that it had launched recovery efforts at the mine in the southern El Callao municipality, with bodies found in three separate shafts.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/14/torrential-rains-collapse-venezuelan-gold-mine-killing-14
“A week after floods, swathes of central Mexico reel from devastation.
“The stench of decay spread for several miles around Poza Rica on Wednesday, one of the areas hardest hit by last week’s torrential rains that flooded central and eastern Mexico… “A week later, this looks horrible — worse. You can’t even cross the street,” lamented Ana Luz Saucedo…”
“Upper ocean heat content is well above-average across the Caribbean and Gulf, with record-high values in parts of the western Caribbean Sea and Bay of Campeche.
“There would be plentiful fuel available to any tropical disturbance that tracks into this region next week.” [Ben Noll]
https://x.com/BenNollWeather/status/1978456072936390906
“Powerful storm leaves over 130 displaced in Tempe, Arizona.
“A powerful “microburst and thunderstorm” pushed through Tempe, Arizona, leaving more than 130 people displaced Monday afternoon, officials said. Several apartment buildings were “severely” damaged during the storm, according to the City of Tempe.”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/powerful-storm-leaves-130-displaced-tempe-arizona/story?id=126497837
“America’s Quiet Crisis: 10 Cities Running Out of Drinking Water…
“San Antonio, a bustling city with a rapidly growing population, is currently grappling with a significant water crisis. The primary source of its water, the Edwards Aquifer, is being depleted at an alarming rate. Recent studies showcase that the aquifer’s levels have reached historic lows…”
“Colorado asks Supreme Court to reject Nebraska water lawsuit.
“Colorado state officials on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to reject a lawsuit from Nebraska over its share of flows from the South Platte River, describing the legal action as a “meritless escalation.””
https://www.eenews.net/articles/colorado-asks-supreme-court-to-reject-nebraska-water-lawsuit/
“Santa Monica Bay faces pollution concerns after Palisades Fire…
“Researchers are concerned about pollutants in Santa Monica Bay from recent storms and the Palisades Fire debris. Water samples show varying conditions, with some areas clearer than others, and local surfers report health issues potentially linked to contaminants.”
https://www.foxla.com/news/santa-monica-bay-faces-pollution-concerns-after-palisades-fire
“Hundreds airlifted from storm-battered Western Alaska villages in historic mass evacuation.
“Hundreds of displaced residents from Kipnuk and Kwigillingok were being flown from Bethel to an American Red Cross shelter in Anchorage on Wednesday, state emergency officials said… The storm left homes uninhabitable and utilities inoperable in communities around the region.”
“Why are there more flooding storms? Why does my cat ignore me?
For starters, the Northern mid-latitudes just set yet another new record for the 3-year running average for Total Column Precipitable Water.
And yes, this one is exponential. True for the whole planet as well.” [Prof Eliot Jacobson]
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/1978221181871272064
“CO2 from wildfires increases by 9% as climate crisis supercharges infernos.
“Intense fast-spreading fires devastated huge swathes of South America’s rainforests, dry forests and wetlands and decimated Canada’s northern forests, pushing up the levels of damaging greenhouse gases.”
“Carbon dioxide levels increase by record amount to new highs in 2024.
“Growth rates of CO2 have tripled since the 1960s, accelerating from an annual average increase of 0.8 ppm per year to 2.4 ppm per year in the decade from 2011 to 2020. From 2023 to 2024, the global average concentration of CO2 surged by 3.5 ppm, the largest increase since modern measurements started in 1957.”
https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/carbon-dioxide-levels-increase-record-amount-new-highs-2024
“Brazil Lines Up Global Pledge on Quadrupling Clean Fuel at COP30…
“Sustainable fuels usually include liquid biofuels, biogases and green hydrogen, along with solutions like e-fuels, which are made using captured carbon dioxide and renewable electricity.”
“Megadeth perform new single “Tipping Point” live for the first time…
“Dave says about the song. “I think we’re all being pushed to the edge right now, and it’s easy to lean into that feeling. But it’s important not to let things get you down.” …It’s a song that stares into chaos and finds meaning on the other side, the sound of a band who’s seen it all and still refuses to fade.”
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You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an “Economic” thread.
Destroying the planet left, right, and center!
Right On, Truth Wizard
What Trump’s Victory Taught Democrats About Climate Change
Climate change is out. Energy affordability is in.
Democrats continue groping for a way forward after their 2024 defeat, they’ve clearly decided they need to change how they talk about climate and energy issues. And in some cases, it goes beyond rhetoric to the actual policies they’re promoting. The bottom line for Democrats: Climate is out, affordability is in.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/10/16/democrats-climate-change-affordability-trump-column-00609841
How many fingers do you see, Wilson? O’Brien asked…
“Climate change is out. Energy affordability is in.”
This is it in a nutshell, Vince. We’re going to keep on trucking until the wheels come off.
“Colombia Warms to Fossil Fuels as Climate Agenda Fizzles… Colombia, the world’s only significant oil producer to join a bloc of nations vowing to quit fossil fuels, is poised for an about face…
““If God gave us oil, coal and gas — we’ll use oil, coal and gas,” Claudia López, a former Bogotá mayor with a record of supporting progressive causes, said in an X post.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-16/colombia-warms-to-fossil-fuels-as-gustavo-petro-s-climate-agenda-fizzles
Yes. Justin, that we will consume it all. And as Winston in 1984, we will be transformed to accept it as the Truth.
Not to pick on her, but seems the inner “Party” will provide one of many reasons or excuses for our condition.
“Smoke Shops” and Online Sports Betting will occupy our attention, or lack of it, for many of the disenfranchised outer Party members. Indeed it is a very entertaining show
Gail Tverberg says:
October 16, 2025 at 9:22 am
Climate is a more acceptable excuse than “there is not enough fuel for us to by” or “we cannot afford to buy the fuel we need.”
Remember to smile while on camera
Re the lead article from Leon Simons, I’m unclear why this graph uses a 1951-2000 baseline – a period right in the middle of the same data it’s graphing. Why not at least convert the baseline to the more standard 1850-1900? The data is easily available, for example this from Copernicus https://climate.copernicus.eu/climate-indicators/temperature where the 5-year-average button uses the 1850-1900 baseline. Could it be because the difference between the 1850-1900 baseline and the less standard 1951-2000 baseline here is about 0.8C and that would put their entire graph well above the 0 line? See also the excellent 1954 book How To Lie With Statistics. Download free at https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/HowToLieWithStatistics.pdf and well worth a read.
Barry, I don’t think Leon is pulling a fast one. 1951 – 2000 is quite standard for climate-anomaly graphs. Many datasets (like NASA GISTEMP, NOAA, and Berkeley Earth) use it because the modern era has consistent, well-instrumented global coverage.
Switching to an 1850 – 1900 baseline would indeed shift the entire graph upwards by about 0.8C, but it wouldn’t change any trends or conclusions. I think a much longer X axis would just make it harder for the eye to detect that acceleration of warming at the end of the graph.
Pan Headline:Megadeth perform new single “Tipping Point” live for the first time…
OMG, thank you Pan! Oh, hahaha Megadeth! Hadn’t thought about them in aaaaages and didn’t know they were still going! My mates and I were into thrash metal big time in the late 80s, early 90s. This is a banger! What an appropriate title as well.
On a different but similar vein, were you a fan of Tears for Fears, Pan? I know you love your 80s era music (as do I). Well, they also released both a song (2021) and album (2022) called “Tipping Point.” Regarding the song lyrics, Roland Orzabal—one of the famous TfF front-men—said:
“It came at a time when my (late) wife was very ill. I was watching her become a ghost of her former self. So the song’s narrator is in a hospital ward looking at people about to cross the threshold that we call death….The line in the song says, ‘Will you ever know when it’s the Tipping Point?’ meaning, will you ever know when a person has crossed that threshold from life to death when you cannot even perceive that ‘vague and distant void’ as it’s described in the lyric.“ (Source
Song link:
Tears For Fears – The Tipping Point (Official Music Video)
So many tipping points everywhere: societal, climate, political, AMOC, glaciers, personal, gaaaaaaah 9 planetary boundaries and so on.
P.S. Did my HTML code work? Takes me back to doing this in web 1.0 in the 90s, and now I feel giddy.
James, of course I adore Tears for Fears – but I sort of lost track of them after their 1989 album, Sowing the Seeds.
I actually heard Tipping Point in the car not so long ago, found it enjoyably haunting, and thought I must look it up… then promptly forgot, so thank you for the reminder. I had no idea what it was about or that Roland Orzabal’s wife had subsequently died.
I love it that some of those 80’s synth acts are still going strong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HHc8pNn7x8&list=RD2HHc8pNn7x8&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n8_dqaIABY&list=RD_n8_dqaIABY&start_radio=1
Thank you, Pan. Had no idea Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys were still going.
Similar to you, lost track of them back in the day.
Will give ’em a listen tomorrow.
Hey Pan,
Not sure if yhis comment was some kinda bot test, but I can gurantee u I a’int. I’m a late stage middle aged autistic adult.
James, I’m so naive when it comes to technology that I’m not even sure what it is about my previous comment that would lead you to suspect it was a bot test, so, no, it wasn’t one. 😆
Pan, apologies for that strange comment of mine last night. Due to over-consumption of alcohol (my unhealthy coping mechanism) I don’t remember writing it and have no idea what I meant. 😂
Standing request: if you ever see a weird, out-of-character comment like that one, please delete it. Don’t worry; this only happens occasionally… 🙃
No problem, James. I’ve imbibed my fair share over the years. 😂
While the Conference of the Parties is preparing for their next Hullabaloo, the self-serving host of the affair pushes its agenda for rapid habitat and biodiversity destruction: “Staggeringly, biofuels globally therefore today emit 16% more CO₂ emissions than the fossil fuels they replace. By 2030, biofuels are projected to emit every year 70 MtCO₂e more than the fossil fuels they replace, equivalent to the annual emissions of almost 30 million diesel cars”.
https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/crop30-why-burning-food-for-land-hungry-biofuels-is-fueling-the-climate-crisis
Is it any surprise that the Gang Green is accelerating the poisoning of air, destruction of the soil, and the fouling of the air for government-insured profits? This is the “New” Kaputalism, where dividends to the already well-heeled are underwritten by working stiffs.
Note from the article that the Furor insisting that “Climate change is a hoax” champions the food-to-fuel scam. As the use of EV’s grows, the problem of what to do with all the gasoline cracking a barrel of oil produces will only escalate, making this boondoggle even more economically, politically, and environmentally disastrous.
Especially in Brazil: first, they burn the rainforest, then burn coal to process the crops, so customers can then burn it in their Combustion Chambers, and then the remaining chaff is set alight. An entire industry conceived for no other purpose than combustion … all with taxpayer dollars… hundreds of billions of them.
But Hey, it’s Green! (Nary a mention of the Green Revolution and the fact that it has played a large part in getting us into the dilemma we find ourselves in today).
Rob, the EROEI on biofuels is so low that they are more of an energy recycling loop than a true energy source, and, as you so ably and colourfully point out, there is nothing “green” about them… just as there can be nothing “green” about a steel plant:
“Swedish startup Stegra (formerly H2 Green Steel) has announced a new round of financing for the construction of the world’s first large-scale green steel plant in Boden. Production is planned using hydrogen produced on site from renewable energy.”
https://gmk.center/en/news/stegra-has-launched-a-new-round-of-financing-for-a-green-steel-plant-in-sweden/
This Just in: my post on Boston Metal …
(https://robertlowrey.blogspot.com/2022/05/cryptocapitalisms-global-war-on-terra.html)
… refutes Stegra’s assertions, particularly their “renewable” energy inputs.
Ps, did you notice the site’s ad for coal investment in Ukraine? Part of the sTrumpet’s “deal”, (euphemism for shakedown whenever das Furor is involved) to ship Tomahawks to Ukraine. Ronald Reagan sold the same make of missiles to,Iran. To the detriment of the crew of the Vincennes, blown up by the same Islamic Republic.