“Massive melon-sized hail [is a new] Texas record. The brick-sized chunks of ice surpass the DVD-sized hail that fell last week…
“Val Castor later posted on Facebook that the stone “conservatively” measured at least seven inches long…” [now confirmed as a new state record of 7.25 inches, beating the old record of 6.4 inches].
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/06/03/texas-hail-melon-storm-record/
“‘Heat dome’ settles over West Coast with 112F temps creating deadly conditions for 10m and sparking wildfire fears…
“The National Weather Service said by Thursday, the level of risk of heat-related impacts will be “extreme” in parts of all three states [California, Arizona and Nevada].”
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/heat-dome-hot-weather-west-coast-b2556136.html
“Thousands of Californians have been ordered to evacuate their homes after a wildfire started this weekend.
“The blaze broke out on a hill managed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Saturday and has since spread on the wind some 20 square miles.”
“Lake Michigan water temperatures at second-warmest level on record.
“Water temperatures on Lake Michigan this year are unusually warm, which will affect your first trip to the beach this summer. This fits a concerning trend as the climate changes.”
“No respite from permafrost-thaw impacts in the absence of a global tipping point…
“We argue that in the absence of a global tipping point there is no safety margin within which permafrost loss would be acceptable. Instead, each increment of global warming subjects more land areas underlain by permafrost to thaw, causing detrimental local impacts and global feedbacks.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-02011-4
“Lightning Storms Accelerate Arctic Ice Melt.
“A recent international study, including contributions from Tel Aviv University and Tripura University, has unveiled a surprising factor accelerating the melting of Arctic sea ice: lightning storms. Traditionally rare in the frigid Arctic, these storms are now becoming more frequent due to global warming…”
https://www.environmentenergyleader.com/2024/06/lightning-storms-accelerate-arctic-ice-melt/
“Train races through ‘Armageddon’ inferno amid wildfires [Siberia].
“Footage taken from the driver’s cabin shows flames from a surrounding inferno wrapping around the carriage. The incident happened in the mountainous Muysky district in Siberia, which has been engulfed by wildfires.”
https://metro.co.uk/2024/06/02/train-races-armageddon-inferno-amid-wildfires-russia-20957844/
“The harsh heat will return to RUSSIA where the temperature is expected to reach 40C [104F] next week (Utta and Yusta best candidates).
“This will be one of the earliest 40C ever recorded anywhere in Russian climatic history (never happened in May).”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1797253293283938498
“The UK had its warmest May and spring on record, despite the wet, dull conditions for many parts of the country, provisional Met Office figures show.
“The average temperature in May was 13.1C (55.6F), beating the previous record in 2008 by a full 1C, making it the warmest May in records dating back to 1884.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jun/03/may-spring-warmest-record-uk-met-office
“Elevated sea temperatures that fuelled record rainfall in Ireland are still far above normal.
“Climate scientists believe that an unprecedented marine heatwave off Ireland’s west coast last June, with sea temperatures reaching up to 5C above normal, not only disrupted biodiversity but was also a contributory factor to the unprecedented levels of rainfall…”
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41408144.html
“Dutch farmers heading to protest against European climate policy in Brussels.
“Angry farmers from the Netherlands and a dozen other EU countries are heading to Brussels on the eve of the European elections. They want to force an end to restrictive European climate and environmental regulations.”
https://nltimes.nl/2024/06/04/dutch-farmers-heading-protest-european-climate-policy-brussels
“Germany will fail to meet its climate targets, experts said, as extreme rainfall flooded parts of the country.
“Towns across southern Germany, from the Swiss border in the southwest to the Czech border in the east, remained underwater on Monday, with municipalities along the Danube river preparing for a further rise in water levels. At least four people have died.”
“Lightning strike in Czech Republic injures 18 people…
“The Czech Republic was hit by heavy rain and storms over the weekend, and there were also reports of flooding affecting parts of the country. Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall more likely.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg33r1313n0o
“Three friends filmed in final embrace before being swept away by flash floods in Italy…
“Patrizia Cormos, 20, her friend Bianca Doros, 23, and her boyfriend Cristian Molnar, 25, had decided to take a stroll along the Natisone River near Udine in the northern Friuli region when the river surged to dangerous levels after days of torrential rain.”
“Italian Indica rice prices hit record highs on poor weather, low stocks…
“In recent weeks, continuous rain and below-average temperatures have disrupted the sowing process, with “still 30% of the sowing to be completed,” an Italy-based broker said. A three-four-week delay in sowing will consequently push harvesting from September to October…”
“Forest fires ravage Cyprus, authorities issue red alert…
“As temperatures soar, the Forestry Department has issued a red alert, warning of heightened forest fire risk. Stricter measures are in place, prohibiting unauthorized fires with penalties of imprisonment up to 10 years or hefty fines.”
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/forest-fires-ravage-cyprus-authorities-issue-red-alert
“Rockets from Lebanon strike northern Israel causing forest fires.
“Israeli authorities are battling intense forest fires in the north of the country that broke out shortly after rocket and drone strikes from neighbouring Lebanon struck the area, forcing the partial evacuation of one town.”
https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0604/1452844-israel-gaza/
“June Record broken at Nguigmi NIGER with 46.4C [115.5F]; 47.5C at Bilma, 46.0 at Tazerbo Libya.
“Tomorrow historic heat in Greece and Turkey with 40/45C, 40C in Russia. And return of the 40C in Spain. Huge contrasts with the cold conditions in Italy in Central Mediterranean.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1797704954875973694
“‘Climate Change hampering food production’ [Nigeria]…
“The negative impact of climate change on the cultivation of farmland has continued to be a source of worry to stakeholders as it has negatively affected the quality of the soil for farming.”
https://sunnewsonline.com/climate-change-hampering-food-production/
“Torrential rain in Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape, has displaced more than a 1,000 people across seven wards.
“At least seven people died in the floods over the weekend. Displaced residents have taken refuge in community halls across the metro. Metro spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya says disaster management teams remain on high alert.”
https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/torrential-rain-displaces-over-a-thousand-in-nelson-mandela-bay/
“Tornado displaces over 1,200 in Tongaat [South Africa].
“A tornado has ripped through Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal, causing extensive damage to homes and schools. It’s left over a thousand families homeless. Meanwhile, the death toll in the devastating Durban storm has risen to six.”
https://www.enca.com/news-top-stories/kzn-storms-tornado-displaces-over-1200-tongaat
“Record heat in Southern Africa. French Southern territories June records: Juan de Nova Island Tmax 31.9 [89.4F] Tmi 26.6 both records, the max also for the whole Territory.
“Glorieuses Island Tmax 31.8°C Tmin 27.2°C both records, the min also record for the whole territory.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1797716407263859060
“Freak hailstorm, rain hit parts of Oman…
“Parts of Muscat could be seen blanketed in a white sheet with residents out on the streets and making the most of the weather by clicking away photographs and uploading them on their social media sites.”
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/freak-hailstorm-rain-hit-parts-of-oman
“Desertification displaces over 700 families in Iraq.
“Over 700 families across three Iraqi provinces have been displaced and forced to relocate to Najaf due to a lack of water availability and worsening desertification, an official told Rudaw on Monday. Iraq is the fifth most vulnerable nation to climate change…”
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/03062024
“Two tourists were rescued by locals and police after a section of a glacier unexpectedly broke off at the famous tourist resort Sonamarg in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district [India].
“Officials informed The Kashmiriyat that the incident occurred in Sonamarg when some tourists were near Thajwas Glacier.”
https://thekashmiriyat.co.uk/glacier-collapses-in-sonamarg-kashmir-three-trapped-one-still-missing/
“India’s ‘glaring inequalities’ laid bare as hundreds wait for water amid record breaking heatwave.
“Amid India’s mammoth general election, millions have had to brave heatwave conditions. Across the country, record temperatures above 50C have been recorded – now chaos has broken out as people living in camps flock to water trucks.”
“Bengaluru sees highest rainfall in June on Sunday, breaks 133-year-old record.
“The city recorded 111.1 mm rainfall on Sunday, beating the previous highest of 101.6 mm recorded on 16 June 1891. The average rainfall in Bengaluru for June is 106.5 mm. This also assumes significance as El Nino is becoming neutral and transitioning into La Nina.”
“Floods and landslides kill 15 in Sri Lanka…
“Seven regions of the South Asian island nation, including the capital Colombo, experienced torrential rainfall of over 400mm [15.7 inches] over the weekend, twice the amount of rain that falls in a month.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/sri-lanka-floods-rainfall-landslides-b2555527.html
“The fight for freshwater in the Maldives.
“Climate change and population increases have made water scarcity a geopolitical issue… Freshwater supplies are now a primary concern. The nation continues to rely on seasonal rainfall, with extended dry spells exacerbating shortages.”
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/fight-freshwater-maldives
“China’s flood season starts ‘stronger, earlier than usual’ in southern regions.
“Extreme events are also anticipated to be more frequent, widespread and intense, with greater impact, according to the MWR’s press release on Thursday.”
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202406/1313501.shtml
“China records warmest spring in 2024 since meteorological records began…
“The overall climate across the country exhibited warm and humid characteristics during the spring of 2024. The national average temperature between March and May reached 12.3 C, higher than the 10.9 C of the same period in previous years by 1.4 C…”
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202406/1313544.shtml
“Few seem to grasp how enormous this 4 W/m² increase (48-month average, relative to 2000-2009) in absorbed sunlight over the North Pacific is.
“The greenhouse gas forcing during the last glacial maximum was only -3 W/m².
“And total greenhouse gas forcing is now 4.1 W/m².”
https://x.com/LeonSimons8/status/1796851378884690175
“June started like a boom breaking thousands of heat records all over the world (Caribbean madness tweet coming),but for some areas like the Alps and Hokkaido is being freezing.
“-3.4C [26F] Attoko Hokkaido today is the lowest lowlands temperature recorded in summer in Japan since 1985.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1797300170905788781
“EXCEPTIONAL HEAT ALLOVER OCEANIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA…
“HISTORIC IN PALAU: Hottest day in climatic history [again] with 35.6C [96.1F]… Insane heat in VIETNAM MINIMUM 30.0 Ca Mau, record destroyed.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1797424626357686776
“Record again in the PHILIPPINES… today the Philippines had its hottest June night ever in its climatic history with a Tmin of 29.7C [85.5F] at Sangley Point. The old record wasn’t that “old” – it was yesterday.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1797244626039914881
“HISTORIC WINTER WARMTH IN AUSTRALIA: Dozens of records destroyed with tropical nights even in the southern State of New South Wales…
“South America will also live summer temperatures in this beginning of winter, hundreds of records are set to fall.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1796927188186304893
“Climate change made historic Brazil floods twice as likely: scientists…
“Three months’ worth of rain was dumped on the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul over two weeks in an “extremely rare event, expected to occur only once every 100-250 years,” according to a study published by the World Weather Attribution group.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/climate-change-made-historic-brazil-202947570.html
“EXTRAORDINARY HEAT WAVE IN SOUTH AMERICA:
“BOLIVIA: 37.8C [100F] San Jose de Chiquitos June record destroyed; 36.9 Puerto Suarez… Over >35C also in Paraguay. Next week we will see one of the most insane heat events in world climatic history with 35/40C in winter every day for 2 weeks.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1797783564752236810
“A farm in Bolivia’s Andean plains grapples with hotter climate…
“Bolivian ranchers Elizabeth and Edwin Churata are learning how to survive in a drier, hotter climate. They are adapting new water-storage techniques as their traditional ponds dry up, and changing how they feed their cattle and sheep.”
“EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN THE CARIBBEAN: Records of June hottest night smashed from Mexico to Colombia.
“MINIMUMS: 28.9 [84F] Soto La Marina Hottest night for any month MEXICO; 28.1 Curacao territorial record; 28.0 Grenada national record; COLOMBIA: 28.3 Santa Marta; 28.2 Cucuta; 28.1 Cartagena.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1797754274207977712
“Forest fires kill hundreds of animals in the jungle of Quintana Roo [Yucatan, Mexico]…
“Pedro Mahay Caamal, president of the Union of Indigenous Mayan Forest Planters, warned that this situation is a consequence of the severe crisis affecting the Yucatan Peninsula, marked by an alarming increase in forest fires and unprecedented climate change.”
“Assumptions that tropical forest canopies protect from the effects of climate change are unfounded, say researchers.
“Crucial strongholds for biodiversity are under threat as temperatures are rising in tropical forests, the world’s most diverse terrestrial ecosystems, a new study reveals… A severe risk is that species are no longer able to survive within tropical forests as climate change intensifies…”
“EXTRAORDINARY IN MEXICO: 33.8 [92.8F] Mexico City destroys its monthly record again.
“MEXICO records: 43.5 Rio Verde monthly record; 40.2 Zamora AP 1500m all time high; 39.4 Cuernavaca monthly record; 39.0 Aguascalientes 1900m monthly record.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1797792285494772169
“Mexico elects a climate scientist as president…
“As Sheinbaum courted votes across the country of 127 million grappling with a drought, heatwave and smog, she promised to invest nearly $14 billion in clean energy and boost electric buses and trains.”
“‘It’s all we have’: young climate activists on the state of politics around the world…
“Political inertia is seen as the biggest barrier to climate action and must be overcome, says Charlier, a political and social science graduate now at the College of Europe in Bruges.”
“Breaking News! Code Yikes!
“As of June 1st, the 365-day running mean for the global surface temperature has reached 1.63°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline. Also, the daily anomaly is back up over 1.7°C.”
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/1797600141610017181
“La Niña switch expected to fuel extreme weather later this year…
“A rapid transition from one extreme to the other in the tropical Pacific would see more parts of the world battered by weather events, not long after the strong El Niño warming event has wreaked havoc on rainfall patterns and commodity prices.”
https://www.ft.com/content/4e7359f0-f9bc-4830-bc2f-72955cdef6d7
“Storms, Blackouts and Extreme Heat Can Mean Catastrophe… The heatwave scenario that keeps scientists up at night…
“One of the most dangerous illusions of the climate crisis is that the technology of modern life makes us invincible. Humans are smart. We have tools. Yeah, it will cost money. But we can adapt to whatever comes our way.”
“Hype Or Reality: Will AI Really Solve Climate Change?
“World Economic Forum says that the use of AI can contribute to the fight against climate change. According to its report, “the technology is already being used to send natural disaster alerts in Japan, monitor deforestation in the Amazon, and design greener smart cities in China.””
In the interests of balance: “Do Dirty Ships Really Stop Global Warming? Scientists Are All At Sea…
“Zeke Hausfather pointed out that, while oceans cover 71% of Earth’s surface, shipping regulations should have a minimal effect on land, so that total warming would be less than that suggested in the report.” [Leon Simons counters that, “The study doesn’t consider the positive feedback (more warming) from warmer oceans on low clouds!”]
You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an “Economic” thread.
If you found value in this content, please help me continue this work by becoming a patron of my work via Patreon. And if you are already a subscriber or have donated – thank you!
Heat kills more than 50 people in India in three days
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cprrv9zp8wyo
I live in the US and I think the highest temperature I ever experienced was about 104 F and that was unbearable. I just cannot imagine dealing with temperatures hovering around 120 F or 49 C
Edward, such temperatures are far beyond my personal experience, too, thank goodness. To state the obvious, we just aren’t designed for it:
“At 50C – halfway to water’s boiling point and more than 10C above a healthy body temperature – heat becomes toxic. Human cells start to cook, blood thickens, muscles lock around the lungs and the brain is choked of oxygen.”
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/halfway-boiling-city-50c
Congrats to Mexico for new pres. However that 14 billion should be invested into desalination and pipelines to move it. And it should be triple that.
WEF AI. These out of touch dingbats do not understand the explosive energy requirements for that AI garbage. AI, eg Deep Thought, the computer that will ponder our predicament for a spell then get back to us with the answer 42, which is Vogon for “You’re Fucked!”
10/10 for the WEF diss plus a gold star for the Douglas Adams reference, Dale. 😎
Hi Pan, since I was after all a beta in my younger years with an interest in ‘physics’ I am greatly surprised that ‘energy balance’ or call it ‘imbalance’ gets so little attention except on your site.
Now if anything would ‘alarm me’ as a simple natural scientist who should after all have understood something about the laws of thermodynamics it would give me nightmares most of all….
By the way, I found the piece on ‘heatwaves’ in Texas very interesting. The article actually proves exactly what it doesn’t want to prove… namely that ‘we’ have a technological ‘solution’ to everything. ‘Adaptation’ you do hear that a lot…. that’s also what we keep hearing about the mega-floods in Germany and the high water coming into the Netherlands via the Rhine. Yesterday an interesting ‘what if’ report if all that water were to fall in the Netherlands….. conclusion then half the country would be under water…. and a ‘mosquito plague’ is coming! I’m sure we can do something about that too. 🙂
https://www.weeronline.nl/nieuws/effect-klimaatverandering-muggen-nederland
“I am greatly surprised that ‘energy balance’ or call it ‘imbalance’ gets so little attention except on your site.”
Zip, it’s strange, isn’t it? Beyond the odd article reporting on the latest James Hansen publication, you really hear very little about it. Perhaps the EEI metric is just too stark and intimidating to gain traction.
Also, the rapid escalation over the past decade does not sit well with that segment of scientists still claiming there is no acceleration in warming. Michael Mann tweeted this in October 2023, for example:
“It is no more defensible to argue that warming is accelerating (or exceeding model projections) today than it was for climate deniers to argue that global warming had stopped a decade ago. The truth is bad enough. There’s no need to exaggerate. Be better than climate deniers!”
As I look at the endless vista of lifeless land in the post about Iraq, I can’t help but wonder if modern industrialized agriculture doesn’t play a far greater role in global heating than it is credited with.
That vista is what must be created anywhere monocrop farming is practiced: first all vestige of life is wiped out for as far as the eye can see: plants, animals, even insects…. On a vast scale … on every continent of the globe.
Yet they posit that it’s shipping’s use of cleaner fuel? But Art Berman’s blog (https://www.artberman.com/blog/the-u-s-will-lose-the-economic-industrial-war-with-china-on-the-renewable-energy-front/ ) has a nice pie chart of emissions, and global shipping = 2%. And lots of it is still using the dirty bunker fuel (do you really think that the Russians, despoilers of the Arctic on a scale that matches the Athabaskan oil sands, switched to cleaner fuel just because “the West” mandated it?) So I don’t buy that argument.
It is, or appears to be, forgotten that trees don’t merely draw carbon from the atmosphere, they sequester it; so even if agricultural production equals the photosynthetic CO2 utilization of a forest, the carbon released in The forests’ destruction never gets the chance to be sequestered again. Plus, the tracts thus created can only be farmed with fossil-fueled machinery.
And the pace of razing of arboreal environments just keeps accelerating, now abetted by the wildfires raging on several continents.
Rob, I am quite swayed by the shipping emissions theory, partly because the timing fits so well, but I will admit that some of the science is above my pay-grade. Global shipping may only emit 2% of global CO2 emissions but it could have been producing as much as 10% global SO2 before cleaner air regs were enforced.
Deforestation for agriculture surely isn’t helping. The Union of Concerned Scientists thinks tropical deforestation alone is responsible for nearly 10% of global warming pollution.
Of course, the drop-off in shipping emissions could be a factor in the recent uptick in warming but not as key as Hansen et al suggest. I keep trying, and failing, to fit Antarctica into the jigsaw. Something definitely not right down there. Prof Eliot Jacobson is reporting that ice extent “appears to be falling off a cliff in a similar fashion to last year’s record insanity.”
Wow, forcing off the charts in N. Pacific… Hey, that’s where I live! No wonder the Rhoddies are blooming in May. I wonder how many billions of sea critters are going to starve to death this year? The snow crabs didn’t make it through the last one.
I love that headline about AI saving us. Yes, tell us how to design “green” cities in China! All knowing! All seeing!
I know from my own experience that all the AI is going to do is spit your own biases back at you. It was trained for months on your data, after all. Why wouldn’t it tell you exactly what you want to hear?
Not that I haven’t personally benefited. I have been using chatGPT as a business consultant, a marketing consultant, a tax consultant, and I’ve been using the free image generators as a graphic designer for my small arts n’ crafts business here in Juneau.
I have no doubt AI is going to put millions of high-paid people out of work. And soon.
Jerry, that is very entrepreneurial of you re AI. Some of the kids at my son’s school use it to cheat on their homework but I have yet to find a practical use for it.
I sometimes wonder if AI could create these threads. They do require a certain understanding of the big picture and some creative thinking on the fly but there is definitely a robotic element. Man, that would be a bitter pill to swallow. 😂
I keep coming back to a vivid dream I had early this morning.
Large groups of people with their luggage packed and waiting for a ride, to somewhere else, in the middle of an otherwise deserted city-scape. There I am running around in a tizzy wondering where my bags are. No feeling of impending disaster, just a feeling of “time to move on”. Then I got distracted by a kitten that seemed to know me.
Hope it’s not prophetic, just my own pessimism about the future. Then again, I often have “travelling” dreams just before I wake up, as though I had travelled a great distance in dream-world and now it was time to “go home”.
Ach, look what you did, Jerry – triggered my inner hippy. Now I have to quote Ram Dass at you all: “We’re all just walking each other home.”
We’re toast.
Pass the butter & jelly. Thank you, but I’ll have chip beef & gravy instead.
Kill the messenger & put him out of his misery. 😉
“Kill the messenger & put him out of his misery.”
Hope that’s not me you’re talking about, TR! 😬😂
No more economic news lately?
It’s the economy, not climate that will do most of us in.
Tomorrow will be economic news. Panopticon alternates days. 🥳 Should be doomy!
Nothing can do in the money printing economy. 😉
Andrea, I just read the definition of a hypercane: a monster cyclone, traveling the globe in perpetuity, waxing and waning in strength but never dying, and leaving a path of destruction wherever it roams.
The economic system of capitalism we toil under is defined by its most ardent defenders, not its critics, as creative destruction, and it behaves precisely as the hypercane described above.
https://youtu.be/xImj9QHHkEY?si=wiFT87lNF1HQGm5x
Here is a local story high winds in june normally these storms are winter ones.
Odd for the NW to get one of these atmospheric rivers in June. You need the water up there, though:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/wa-drought-has-already-led-some-to-shut-off-water-to-farmers/
I must be having a psychotic break! I can’t stop laughing & celebrating at the choices this species has made. WOO HOO! Shouldn’t I be sad?
Why do any sceintists not mention war as a major contriburtor to the suddenly accelerating global warming? Not just from CO2 released by driving tanks and resupply trucks to the front, but from the Nitrous Oxide released by all the bombs going off in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and Burma?
The timing correlation between these events looks pretty suspicious to me.
Curt, that issue has been getting at least a little publicity of late, although scientists are still trying to establish effective methodologies for measuring it:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/09/emission-from-war-military-gaza-ukraine-climate-change