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“Parts of Antarctica are turning green more quickly than previously thought, leaving scientists “shocked” at the impact of climate change in the region.
“The area covered by vegetation in the Antarctic Peninsula is 10 times larger than four decades ago, a UK research team has said.”
“Antarctic sea-ice extent update: two years back-to-back crushing the “UNDER” compared to the pre-2023 maximum.
“Going the other way, the record low was 1,949,420 km² on Feb. 17, 2023. Will we see a new record low extent in 2025? The magic climate 8-ball says “f&%kery ahead!””
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/1841998125915111607
“Water levels in major Amazon tributary – Rio Negro – tumble to record lows amid drought…
“Amid drought and wildfires, the Rio Negro [the other major tributary, the Solimoes, is already at record lows] plummeted to a depth of 12.66 metres (41.5 feet) on Friday… That’s the shallowest depth recorded since measurements were first taken in 1902.”
“In Bolivia, behind the catastrophic fires, a race for agricultural growth.
“Nearly 7 million hectares of forest and grazing land have been burnt in the South American country, which declared a state of ‘national disaster’ on September 30. The fires were caused by the widespread clearing of land for cultivation.”
“Ecuador imposes state of emergency to fight fires and crime.
“Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa declared a new state of emergency to contain crime, while the process for the general elections in February gains traction and forest fires ravage the country. The state of emergency will remain in force for two months…”
https://www.bnamericas.com/en/features/ecuador-imposes-state-of-emergency-to-fight-fires-and-crime
“AMERICAS RECORD HEAT:
“MIN 28.6 [83.5F] CURACAO HOTTEST OCTOBER NIGHT IN HISTORY; COLOMBIA 38.5 Leticia, 37.0 Santa Marta OCTOBER RECORDS; BRAZIL 42.5 Peixe ALL TIME HIGH; Tmin 29.0 Aragarcas Hottest night ever.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1842307190918357447
“HISTORIC – 35.6 [96.1F] Canefield; DOMINICA HOTTEST OCTOBER DAY IN HISTORY.
“100% of the tropics are smashing in pieces all records set during the 2023 Nino.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1841964141180805497
“‘It used to be a farm – now it’s a mall’: how El Salvador’s crisis-hit coffee producers are trying to adapt…
“El Salvador no longer exports much coffee as it grapples with climate breakdown, labour emigration and controversial public policies… The coffee industry was the engine of El Salvador’s economy last century, responsible for up to 40% of export earnings until the 1990s…”
“Starbucks invests in two Central American coffee farms to climate-proof coffee supply…
“Starbucks is seeking to develop a ‘collaborative coffee innovation network’ – which it said will undertake ‘groundbreaking global agronomy innovation’ and find solutions to increase productivity on farms, support increased profitability for farmers and build climate resilience.”
“Millions of Americans have never been this hot in October before as a historic heat wave hits…
“At least 125 places from the West Coast to the Rockies have tied or broken all-time October heat records since the month began. Many others have set daily high temperature records.”
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/10/03/weather/west-california-heat-wave-excessive-heat-warning-climate
“What’s going on out west is absolutely bonkers.
“10 record highs in a row for Phoenix… and every one of these next 6 days in the forecast is another record high.
“More than 2 straight weeks with record highs every day.”
https://x.com/ericfisher/status/1842021096075227282
“Smokey air, nonstop nosebleeds. Life as a warehouse worker in a heatwave: ‘Products matter more than people’ [California]…
“Uncontrolled wildfires ripped across southern California amid a startling late summer heatwave this month, shrouding the region in thick, dark smoke as temperatures climbed past 110F (43.3C). But Cynthia Ayala, a ramp agent at one of Amazon’s largest air freight hubs, had to report to work anyway.”
“Leslie has become a hurricane at 34.2°W, the farthest east that Atlantic hurricane has formed in tropics (<=23.5°N) this late in calendar year in satellite era (1966-present).
“Prior record for easternmost post-Sep tropical hurricane formation was set 3 days ago by Kirk (40.1°W).”
https://x.com/philklotzbach/status/1842395300004049194
“Another intense moisture plume will emanate from the marine heatwave-affected waters of the Gulf of Mexico and move across Florida next week.
“One to three Octobers’ worth of rain could fall in parts of the state, regardless of whether a tropical storm or hurricane forms or not.”
https://x.com/BenNollWeather/status/1842180369702899718
“The final data has confirmed that Helene’s moisture plume was the most intense on record for parts of six states: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
“The integrated vapor transport (IVT) associated with Helene was up to around 1.5 times higher than any previous system in this region…”
https://x.com/BenNollWeather/status/1841795110482411841
“Global chipmaking hit as Hurricane Helene disrupts quartz mining…
“Hurricane Helene has exposed a little-known vulnerability in the semiconductor supply chain… Sibelco, the Belgium-headquartered mining conglomerate that operates the largest quartz production facility in Spruce Pine, said that the area was “hit particularly hard”.”
https://www.ft.com/content/5300b16d-5829-469f-89dd-1180fe404022
“I Wasn’t Prepared to Be a Climate Refugee.
“Asheville was supposed to be one of those places where people were safer from climate disasters. It was listed in the top three cities in this country to escape climate impacts… But now I know firsthand that no place is safe from the climate crisis.”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hurricane-helene-made-me-a-climate-change-refugee/
“Do I spy a little Cat-2 hurricane there in the English channel next Wednesday?
“This has to be a model hallucination…”
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/1842348656390795287
“How future heat waves at sea could devastate UK marine ecosystems and fisheries…
“…in June 2023, a short-lived but intense event materialized around the shores of the UK and Ireland, which was widely documented in the media. The impacts of this heat wave remain unknown, highlighting a crucial gap in our understanding…”
https://phys.org/news/2024-10-future-sea-devastate-uk-marine.html
“Labour may cut financial support for flooded farmers, the Guardian has learned, while money to compensate them for deluges in January has still not hit their pockets.
“The previous Conservative government earlier this year promised up to £25,000 in payments for uninsurable damage from flooding caused by Storm Henk.”
“Government pledges £22bn for carbon capture and storage technology in net zero drive.
“The £22bn funding for carbon capture and storage has been welcomed as a lifeline for some industry jobs. The expensive technology is regarded as critical to reaching UK climate targets, but green groups warn the wrong use risks prolonging dependence on fossil fuels.”
“A once-permanent patch of snow in the Highlands has melted for the fourth year in a row – for the first time in recorded history.
“The repeated melting of the Sphinx, a snow patch on the UK’s third highest mountain, Braeriach in the Cairngorms, is attributed to climate change.”
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/snow-patch-scots-mountain-dubbed-33824185
“Record shrinkage of Swedish glaciers…
“”The new measurements show that both the net mass balance and the summer mass balance for all four Swedish reference glaciers were record negative for the balance year 2023/2024. “We have measured the largest mass losses since systematic glacier observations on Sweden’s reference glaciers began.””
https://www.su.se/english/news/record-shrinkage-of-swedish-glaciers-1.768512
“Europe between exceptional cold in the Alpine area and record heat in the Mediterranean:
“HOTTEST OCTOBER NIGHT IN SPAIN; Min 26.7 [80F] Garrucha; HOTTEST OCTOBER NIGHT IN MALTA; Min 24.8 Luqa; Record heat also in North Africa.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1841911067360034865
“Record high temps of 35 degrees in Murcia this October…
“This past Wednesday, October 2, the thermometer exceeded 35ºC in Murcia for the first time in a month of October… The previous record high for October was 34.9ºC; 2012. The 35.5ºC this past Wednesday shows a sizeable increase in the temperatures in Murcia this year.”
“Weather warnings were issued for many parts of Italy on Friday as torrential rain continued to lash the country prompting red alerts for flooding in some areas.
“Twelve of Italy’s regions were hit with weather warnings on Friday as heavy rain continued to batter the country.”
https://www.thelocal.it/20241004/swathe-of-italy-placed-on-alert-as-torrential-rain-continues
“Flash floods and landslides in central Bosnia-Herzegovina have left at least 19 people dead, with towns and villages cut off and reports in some places of homes being almost submerged.
“Some of the worst scenes were in the area around Jablanica, a town on the main route between the cities of Mostar and the capital, Sarajevo…”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g5elll48lo
“Wildfires rage in western Peloponnese, injuring firefighter and engulfing farmhouses…
“Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias chaired a coordination meeting with emergency services and military personnel to manage the crisis. Authorities have sent 112 evacuation alerts for several areas.”
“The Russian wheat market has surged to the highest price since late June amid worsening drought and reduced production forecast in the world’s leading export country…
“More Russian regions — Oryol most recently — declared an emergency on extreme drought conditions. This followed after multiple regions were already hit by frosts and more droughts since early May…”
“Exclusive: Egypt planning for major wheat import savings, sources say…
“Egypt has developed plans to slash wheat imports and spend less on subsidised bread by adding corn or sorghum as ingredients… The proposals could save the government millions of dollars but face opposition from bakers and millers…”
“Africa’s famous Serengeti and Maasai Mara are being hit by climate change – a major threat to wildlife and tourism…
“Over the past six decades, rainfall has been above average and there have also been recurrent severe droughts, erratic extremely wet conditions and a temperature rise of 4.8°C to 5.8°C. These events are having a significant impact on wildlife populations…”
“On front lines of climate change, Tanzanian communities search for answers to deepening drought…
““This year is the biggest wakeup call we have seen in Tanzania in terms of what climate change is doing to rural families,” says Mirey Atallah, Head of UNEP’s Adaptation and Resilience Branch. “We need fast action on mitigation and adaptation.””
“RECORD HEAT IN CENTRAL ASIA:
“Records have been smashed all over with temperatures close to 40C [104F] and even very warm nights. KAZAKHSTAN record warm nights; Min 19.0 Turkestan Record for October (140+ years of data); TURKEMINSTAN RECORD HOT NIGHTS: Min 22.5 Uchadzhi; Min 20.8 Burdalyk.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1842255605886496972
“Wildfires rage on in Kohistan [Pakistan]…
“Wildfires, which have erupted in various places in Kohistan region, have destroyed many forests… the wildfires could affect the nearby settlements… The flora and fauna have been wiped out…”
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1236933-wildfires-rage-on-in-kohistan
“Eternal record heat in INDIA and PAKISTAN:
“Records keep falling every day in all regions. INDIA: 38.9 [102F] Tiruchchirapalli, 33.6 Bhuntar; Insane minimum temperature of 30.2 at Thanjvur; PAKISTAN OCT RECORDS: 44.5 Dadu, 42.5 Moen jo Daro, 42.0 Bahawalnagar; MALDIVES Hottest October day ever 33.4 Hanimadhoo.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1842182547574305112
“View from the Himalayas | Kathmandu’s record rainfall has cross-border implications…
“It was the same late-monsoon cloudburst that affected the first two days of the Kanpur Test between India and Bangladesh. Those in high places decided to ignore it. But for most Nepalis, it came without warning. It was done in less than 72 hours.”
“Body found off central Japan identified as girl missing in recent record rain…
“Japan Coast Guard officials say a body found off the coast of central Japan is that of 14-year-old Kiso Hanon, who went missing during the recent torrential rains in Ishikawa Prefecture. The officials based the confirmation on DNA tests and other methods.”
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20241003_26/
“Endless record heat in JAPAN – more October records:
“High Tmaxes: 31.1 [88F] Miyake Tsubota; 29.9 Miyakejima; High Tmins: 18.1 Minakami; 25.3 Yahemighara; 20.0 Kito… Heat will further increase with dozens more records coming. It’s an endless summer.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1842192242913517811
“Taiwan picks up the pieces after Typhoon Krathon…
“The clean-up is underway in Taiwan after wind and rain from Typhoon Krathon caused major damage across the island. The winds were not as fast as originally forecast, but the system moved unusually slowly, leaving time to dump massive amounts of rain.”
https://www.dw.com/en/taiwan-picks-up-the-pieces-after-typhoon-krathon/video-70409335
“Elephants swept away in popular Thailand animal sanctuary after massive floods…
“The Elephant National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said they were unable to access the parts of the sanctuary where scores of animals were believed to be trapped after roads were “completely flooded”.”
“HISTORIC HEAT IN INDONESIA – minimum 28.6 [83.5F] Sangkapura is HOTTEST OCTOBER NIGHT IN INDONESIA HISTORY.
“Thousands of records have been broken in Indonesia every single day for over 500 consecutive days and it will get worse and worse. All El Nino records are being swept away one by one.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1842016472996126822
“Coral reef snapper feeling impacts of marine heat waves on Great Barrier Reef…
“Dr. McMahon said the species energetic needs were shown to increase up to 37 percent during MHW conditions. “Climate change has led to the increasing frequency and intensity of MHWs, so there is an immediate need to understand the sensitivity of organisms both during and following these events,” he said.”
https://phys.org/news/2024-10-coral-reef-snapper-impacts-marine.html
“The New Zealand city of Dunedin was cut off by road due to flooding Friday after recording its wettest day in more than a century…
“A local state of emergency remains in place for the city, which is due to be battered by rain until late Friday.”
“Exported gas produces far worse emissions than coal, major study finds…
““The idea that coal is worse for the climate is mistaken – LNG has a larger greenhouse gas footprint than any other fuel,” said Robert Howarth, an environmental scientist at Cornell University and author of the new paper.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/04/exported-liquefied-natural-gas-coal-study
“Fire weakens land carbon sinks before 1.5 °C…
“…limiting warming to 1.5 °C is still essential for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change… in many cases, we are already reaching the point of significant change in ecosystems rich in carbon and biodiversity.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01554-7
“Ski resorts warn they face ‘existential threat’ from climate crisis…
“Ski resorts around the world are facing an “existential threat” from the climate crisis, the international ski federation has warned, as it teams up with UN weather experts to address the growing impacts of global warming on winter sports.”
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You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back on Monday with an “Economic” thread.
I wonder what Floridians will be planning to do now and, more so, after whatever flooding occurs next week. I expect state population to continue growing, at least in the short term, but some richer retirees and large businesses may be looking to leave, and visiting tourists and snowbirds may be starting to make alternative plans; so the state will become poorer with a higher proportion of inhabitants that can’t afford to live elsewhere and an acceleration to the decay of the infrastructure. Of course a couple of direct hits from cat. 5 hurricanes would change things (there must be some limit to how much insurance even the state can provide); alternatively a couple of years of relative quiet would allow people to quickly forget.
It will only get worse in the coming years. Chaos world by 2030.
Then everyone will be dead or wish they were by 2040.
Honestly, I think it will be well before 2030. Of course I am influenced by the climate crisis I am currently living through – Tropical Storm Helene which as you all know has devastated so much of western North Carolina. I came through with life and property unharmed and my little town didn’t get hit as bad as many. But I’m still without power or running water on day nine. At least I have cell connection now. I plan to write up a little piece about the experience when I have power again and post it here. Panopticon has graciously agreed.
I am so grateful for everyone here not least because you are willing to look at reality with clear eyes.
Cassandra, I am very glad you are in one piece and looking forward to reading your first-hand account. ❤
George, goodness knows how things will play out in Florida. It’s definitely becoming hotter, stickier, stormier and more at risk of extreme rainfall events but quite how that plays out demographically only time will tell.
The forecasts for storm Milton are getting more unnerving by the second – currently predicted to hit Florida as a Cat 3+ mid-day Wednesday.
What’s going to happen to insurance coverage after this next hurricane slams Florida? We may find out sooner than one might expect. I’ve been watching videos of the increasing cost of insurance in the “Hurricane Flooded State”.
No sir, nope, no, no, no.
Not falling for that trick anymore.
Henceforth, the phrase “if we limit emissions” is banned from any and all speech across the globe. There is no “we,” there is no “limit,” there are only emissions, be it LNG, coal, the manufacture and production of “ renewables,” oil, everywhere, anywhere. Look at the relevant chart.
As the effects of the. Climatastrophe are now, and not in the far future that even polite folks used to try to aver, documented so ably by Pan-O, we readers should stand ready to help only the neediest, like the skiers.
There is also this morbidly obese ex-casino owner that keeps popping up in internet videos – can any explain who he is and why he keeps being featured? He seems deeply troubled.
Agreed. Tired of that phrase.
We aren’t even trying to change course in any meaningful capacity.
Yes, the delusional optimism can get a little wearing – but then I suppose it is what is keeping the financial system levitating and people generally putting one foot in front of the other, so I don’t wish it away.
Pan,
Been reading this site for over a year now and wanted to say thank for these daily digests. Just over the last two months, reading about record after record broken here, there and everywhere, i a complete mind fuck. Beginning to really really believe James Hansen is right about the acceleration of warming and how much we got locked in.
James, you are welcome. Sea-surface temps should not be this warm and we should not be seeing this many air-temp records falling around the world in well established ENSO neutral conditions. If we simplify it into a two-horse race, Hansen’s position grows ever more credible at the expense of Mann’s.
BTW, I am big on boxing, so your surname immediately conjures Aussie boxer Jeff Fenech… what an absolute beast in the ring that man was.
“Yes they can control the weather.”
https://x.com/mtgreenee/status/1842039774359462324
I guess the next question is: Who ordered hurricane Helene?
More and more stupid (or willfully ignorant) people are being elected in the US. Some here say it’s the voters fault but often the two choices are both equally stupid.
I saw a sensible response on X to this nonsense by a chap called L Haden:
“The average person has no concept of how much energy is in weather and how much energy it would take to control it, assuming there was technology that could do it (not talking mundane cloud seeding). You didn’t see dozens of nuclear power plants next to it [the HAARP facility pictured in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s original post] did you?”
If you just scroll down reading the headlines quickly it sounds kinda like a Bob Dylan song.
Exactly the effect I was going for, JustMe. 😂
Now it’s king for king
And queen for queen
Gonna be the meanest flood
That anybody’s ever seen
Yeah things are so bad its like disasters on top of each other. The images coming out of north carolina are insane. I can see how the insane amount of rain caused landslides which prior this summer was dry and in a drought. Add in the dying forests. The infrastructure was trashed by the huge amounts of water just saying Mother Nature is reclaiming her planet back after we trashed it and wiping anything we have built from the face of it
Heather, it does feel a bit as if Mother Nature is trying to flush us out of her system.
The UK has been endlessly beset by record rainfall, of course. I was depressed to read that the government has decided to cut financial support for our flooded farmers whilst ploughing a cool £22 billion into carbon capture. Food security not, apparently, a priority for us. 🙄
“Civilization is a heat engine.” & it’s not a problem until there are too many producing heat. Sure would have been great if the species hadn’t destroyed the habitat.
Guy McPherson talked about ~62? self-reinforcing feed back loops. It would only take one to clear this planet of this destructive viral species?
Everyone repeat after me: “Too Late”, “Too Late”, “Too Late”.
‘Like the military, the economy is now a bigger threat to us than the exigencies it was set up to protect us from in the first place.’
Billions to the corporasphere (with the world going to hell, why not make up my own words?) for atheismof carbon sequestration, but no money to farmers: Labour’s Love’s Lost.
The US is today producing more fossil fuel than at any time in its history, while simultaneously constructing an entirely “renewable “ infrastructure from the ground up, one based on the “transition” fuel OF NATGAS. That fact is not new, it was well known before an entire industrial infrastructure was constructed to support it; ditto for ethanol from food crops. Agriculture’s habitat destruction is never more apparent than when looking at the vast dead zone of a Kansas corn field after the harvest.
Rob, whilst it seemed to me a common sense proposition that mining methane, super-chilling it and shipping it vast distances around the world on diesel-powered tankers probably wasn’t the most eco or climate-friendly venture, and that the “transition” appellation was spurious, I was surprised that it worked out even worse than coal.