Huge thanks to this month’s anonymous sponsor, who wishes me to lead with this splendid quote from “The Sting”: “If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.” [Paul Newman, playing Henry Gondorff]
“Climate data highlights from this month:
“Arctic ice extent lowest on record for time of year
New ocean heat content record
Temperatures over land record high (Jan-May).
New CO₂ record high”
[Zack Labe]
https://bsky.app/profile/zacklabe.com/post/3lsqqxptq322j
“Is global warming accelerating?
“Over at The Climate Brink I argue that the consilience of evidence from surface temperatures, climate models, forcing changes, ocean heat content, and earth energy imbalance all point toward yes.” [Zeke Hausfather]
https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/the-great-acceleration-debate
“The Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude oceans are warming at a record RATE of 0.65°C/decade! H/t @e_philalethes.” [Leon Simons]
https://x.com/LeonSimons8/status/1939307893775388734
“Firefighters battled wildfires in the Scottish Highlands for a third day on Monday in a situation the first minister has called “extremely serious”.
“The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA), which has helped tackle the blazes, warned the fires are “becoming a danger to human life” that are leaving “stretched” firefighters unable to attend other incidents.”
“Europe’s expanding heat wave fuels record temperatures, including in the Alps.
“[National] Heat records were set for June in Spain and Portugal over the weekend during a new surge of extreme heat that’s roasting Europe.” [Never before has it been so hot over such a large area (and so early!). The vertigo of having to live like this for the rest of your life – Melaine Le Roy].
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/06/30/europe-heat-wave-records-spain-portugal-alps/
“Western Europe summer high temperatures have increased ~2.6 °C (4.7 °F) during just the last 50 years.
“That’s in a world with only 1.4 °C of global warming.” [Dr. Robert Rohde]
https://x.com/RARohde/status/1939623448885768514
“At midnight, it’s still over 31°C [87.8F] in Paris!!
“31.4°C at our Saint-Germain-des-Prés weather station… 32°C at Lariboisière Hospital (10th arrondissement)… 30.2°C at the top of the Eiffel Tower.” [Guillaume Séchet]
https://x.com/Meteovilles/status/1939810134605406494
“MORE THAN 24 HOURS ABOVE ZERO ON TOP OF MONT BLANC!
“The station located at Colle Major, 4750 m, on Mt Blanc recorded a maximum of +3.7°C on 28/06, while the minimum today, 29/06, was +1.1°C, more than 24 h > zero!” [Melaine Le Roy]
https://x.com/subfossilguy/status/1939297565159071805
“Monday, June 30, 2025, was marked by violent thunderstorms between the Rhône Valley and the Alps. Hail, stormy gusts of wind, and rain responsible for flooding were observed…
“Within an excessively warm air mass, the electrical activity was very impressive with several thousand lightning flashes in the space of a few hours…”
https://www.meteo-villes.com/actualites/violents-orages-et-degats-dans-l-est-ce-lundi-30-juin
“One dead and roads closed: this is the toll of the wave of bad weather that hit Bardonecchia [Italy], the tourist resort at 1,300 meters above sea level in the Turin area.
“But the long-awaited rain, after the strong heat, soon turned into a nightmare: that of mud.”
“Hungarian Government Ramps Up Drought Response, Criticizes EU for Burdening Farmers…
“In a Monday statement from the Agriculture Ministry, Nagy stressed that 2025 could mark Europe’s hottest summer yet. In response, Hungary has declared a drought emergency and established a Drought Protection Task Force.”
https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/current/drought-response-eu-criticism-agriculture/
“Slovenia records hottest, driest June in history.
“June 2025 has been confirmed as Slovenia’s hottest, driest, and sunniest summer month since records began in 1950, marking an unprecedented climate extreme, the Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) announced on Monday.”
https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/30/06/2025/slovenia-records-hottest-driest-june-in-history
“Greek Farmers Hit by Olive Heists and Deadly Drought.
“Olive thefts are rising across Greece. The problem has gotten worse as heat and drought have made harvests unpredictable. In the past, olive trees were tough and survived dry weather. But climate change has pushed them to the edge.”
https://www.dagens.com/world/greek-farmers-hit-by-olive-heists-and-deadly-drought
“Firefighters in Turkey are battling dozens of wildfires that have driven nearly 50,000 people from their homes.
“Strong winds and high temperatures sparked the flames at the weekend. Wildfires have been reported across the country, but the three biggest blazes are in the western province of Izmir.”
https://www.dw.com/en/emergency-crews-battle-multiple-wildfires-in-turkey/video-73098513
“Mallorca sea temperature reaches new record.
“The sea surface reached an average temperature of 27.6 °C in the Balearics on Monday, which is 4.7 degrees above the historical data for this time of year, in a situation ‘never seen before’, according to researcher Mélanie Juza…” [The Northwestern Mediterranean is +5.60°C above 1982-2015 today – Leon Simons]
“MOROCCO is being swept by a historic heat wave with record heat allover the country and up to 47.4C [117.3F] at Taroudant and widespread >40C on the Atlantic coast and highlands and minimums up to 32C.
“Most important June records include: 45.7 Beni Mallal, 43.8 Larache, 40.5 Casablanca.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1939441956675092629
“Days of heavy Pakistan rains, floods kill 46, including 13 from one family.
““We are expecting above-normal rains during the monsoon season, and alerts have been issued to the concerned authorities to take precautionary measures…” …forecasters cannot rule out a repeat of extreme weather like the devastating floods in 2022.”
“Rajasthan’s Churu [NW India] records highest ever rainfall in June.
“Jaipur, June 30 In a rare and significant weather event, Churu — a district in Rajasthan renowned for its extreme temperatures — recorded 85.1 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours.”
https://www.lokmattimes.com/national/rajasthans-churu-records-highest-ever-rainfall-in-june/
“At least two labourers were confirmed killed and seven remained missing after a cloudburst triggered a landslide in northern India early on Sunday.
“The disaster struck near an under-construction hotel in the Silai area of Uttarkashi along the Yamunotri National Highway, a key route leading to one of Hinduism’s holiest pilgrimage sites…”
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/india-uttarakhand-cloudburst-himalaya-b2779016.html
“An ancient village in the Himalayas ran out of water. Then, it moved and started over.
“A Himalayan village in Nepal has vanished — emptied by climate change… Kunga Gurung is among many in the high Himalayas already living through the irreversible effects of climate change.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/nepal-families-himalayas-glaciers-communities-b2780011.html
“Warning upgraded! Sichuan Zigong [China] issued a red warning for heavy rain, with the maximum accumulated rainfall of 286.2mm / 11.3 inches [in six hours].
“At 21:51 on June 29, the Zigong Meteorological Observatory updated the orange rainstorm warning signal to a red rainstorm warning signal.”
https://m.gmw.cn/2025-06/30/content_1304071066.htm
“Today, the Shanghai Xujiahui weather station broke the highest record in June with 38.5C [101.3F]!
“In addition, 8 other stations broke or surpassed the June record! [Jim Yang]
https://x.com/yangyubin1998/status/1938579018317713586
“Thai Nguyen city [Vietnam] submerged as floods reach car rooftops…
“In Thai Nguyen, the intense rainfall in such a short period overwhelmed the city’s drainage capacity, leading to widespread flooding. On-site reports showed several streets submerged in water over a meter deep. Many cars stalled in the floodwaters, with some nearly fully submerged.”
https://vietnamnet.vn/en/thai-nguyen-city-submerged-as-floods-reach-car-rooftops-2416569.html
“Irrigation Department on high alert as record rainfall lashes Nan, Chiang Rai [Thailand]…
“The Royal Irrigation Department is closely monitoring the water situation after heavy rainfall across northern and upper northeastern Thailand reached record levels, particularly in Nan and Chiang Rai provinces. In some areas, over 300 millimetres / 12 inches of rain were recorded within 24 hours.”
https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/news/general/40051917
“INDONESIA RECORD HEAT:
“Another record from Indonesia, this time from Aceh (Sumatra). 37.2C [99F] today at Banda Aceh, June hottest day in history and few decimals from Indonesian national June heat record. Record heat in Indonesia has been going on for 28 months.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1939676313209754058
“‘Bomb cyclone’ brings extreme rain, floods and damaging winds to Australia’s east coast.
“A rapidly intensifying low-pressure system known as a “bomb cyclone” is lashing Australia’s eastern coast with torrential rain and winds of up to 110 kmph, raising fears of flash floods, coastal erosion and major transport disruptions.”
“Weather: ‘Another significant’ wave of storms on way for Tasman, Nelson in flood aftermath [NZ].
“MetService are warning the storm-battered Tasman and Nelson regions to prepare for more thunderstorms, wind and rain later this week. It comes as the area’s deal with the aftermath of after heavy rain on Friday and Saturday.”
“OCEANIA RECORD HEAT – record heat has fallen nearly everywhere in Oceania this month (and in the past 30 months) and records keep falling:
“VANUATU: 31.8C [89.2F] Santo June max. record; SOLOMON ISLANDS: Min 26.0 Honiara June hottest night record tied.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1939130702773264733
“EXCEPTIONAL COLD SPELL IN SOUTH AMERICA:
DMC Chile confirms some historic records broken today: -9.3C [15.3F] Chillan AP all time low, -8.1C Puerto Montt AP all time low, -7.9C Temuco monthly record.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1939805319753797833
“Communities and ecosystems in Venezuela learn to adapt to life after glaciers…
“Venezuela has become the first tropical country to lose all its glaciers. But with most of the ice gone, the mountains are seeing new life emerge, and local communities are seeking to reinvent the identity of the city of Mérida, a place once known for its eternal snows.”
“FIERCE HEAT WAVE IN PACIFIC MEXICO:
“Extreme heat returned to the West from California to Sinaloa. Maximum temperatures up to 48C but also extremely hot nights: For example today Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, had a Minimum of 31.5C/89F, its hottest June night in history.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1939794978055520604
“The June 2025 heat dome brought record-breaking thermal stress to a densely populated stretch from New York to North Carolina.
“About 17 million people were hit by their highest June universal thermal climate index values on record (based on temps, humidity, winds and radiation).” [Ben Noll]
https://x.com/BenNollWeather/status/1939723103707300351
“‘Explosive increase’ of ticks that cause meat allergy in US due to climate crisis.
“Blood-sucking ticks that trigger a bizarre allergy to meat in the people they bite are exploding in number and spreading across the US, to the extent that they could cover the entire eastern half of the country and infect millions of people, experts have warned.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/29/lone-star-ticks-increase-climate-crisis
“‘This is the worst that I can remember,’ southern Saskatchewan RMs declare drought emergency…
“As Global’s Nicole Healey explains, in the video above, the RMs are calling for crop insurance programs to be updated to support farmers who have been losing money for the ninth year in a row.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/11268274/southern-saskatchewan-rms-declare-drought-emergency/
“‘Completely unexpected’: Antarctic sea ice may be in terminal decline due to rising Southern Ocean salinity…
“This finding caught us off guard – melting ice typically makes the ocean fresher. But new satellite data shows the opposite is happening, and that’s a big problem.”
“Brazil’s COP30 chief warns of tensions over 1.5C global warming pledges…
“André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, a senior diplomat, said the fact that some scientists had concluded the world had already surpassed the long-term 1.5C level of warming would make it “one of the inevitable important debates of the COP”.”
https://www.ft.com/content/a9dc76ce-4fb6-485f-a895-4c67732d3062
“Global climate science body [IPCC] roiled by controversies stoked by Saudis, US.
“The proposed selection of a Saudi Aramco oil company staffer as one of the authors of a key science report has been denounced as “political capture.” …“It damages the reputation of the IPCC,” said one person with inside knowledge of the discussions. “And this may well be deliberate.””
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You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an “Economic” thread.
“Olive thefts are rising across Greece”
Olive theft sounds like a great career – dangerous fun and rewarding. I predict this skillset will be in high demand by 2035 with plenty of lucrative specialization tracks for enterprising youths. To name but a few – milk trafficking, egg smuggling, herring raiding…
You could add to that excellent list pinching lead from roofs or copper cabling from substations and railways, Jupiviv:
“Thousands of people were left trapped on trains or stranded overnight after the theft of copper cables halted high-speed services between Madrid and southern Spain’s Andalusia region.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm24l14l4zmo
“Thousands of Eurostar passengers have been suffering severe delays and last-minute cancellations due to cable theft… The latest delays come after 600 metres of copper cables were stolen overnight in the city of Lille in northern France…”
https://news.sky.com/story/thousands-of-eurostar-passengers-facing-cancellations-and-severe-delays-after-cable-theft-13388384
Quite a good podcast here explaining how Russia doesn’t have the manpower or money to fight wildfires, which are therefore getting progressively worse, quite apart from climate change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln4FCD1PkgY
George, this reporting is somewhat distorted by its overtly pro-Ukrainian agenda.
He is not correct when he says that this kind of weather happens every year. Siberia, especially the east, and parts of the Russian far North have seen unprecedented and protracted heat in 2025, although that has just cooled off in the past few days. ExtremeTemps reported on 28th June that, “Siberia has seen MAX. 35/40C nearly every day for the past 50+ consecutive days! Never happened anything like this.”
I don’t doubt that Russia has significant manpower and budgetary issues due to the war, but Canada also operates a, perhaps less laissez-faire, “let it burn” policy, or more accurately, a policy of triaging fires based on threat. The war itself has also been a nightmare for poor Ukraine’s forests:
“Last year was Ukraine’s worst year for wildfires in more than three decades of record-keeping, as shelling along front lines in the war with Russia triggered an unprecedented number of blazes, scientists said.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/war-ignited-record-breaking-wildfires-ukraine-last-year-scientists-say-2025-03-26/
I was going to mention Canada. Our forests are beyond the scope of human management. When it starts burning the protocol is pray for rain, evacuate, and try to protect buildings… and watch the smoke forecast. In 2023, our worst year ever, we lost almost 18 million ha (180,000 km2). That’s near the size of Syria, and twice the size of Portugal. It don’t matter how many firefighters you’ve got, “you’re gonna need a bigger hose.” https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/
Thanks, Shane. A little background:
“…the fact that the overwhelming contribution of belowground carbon to fire emissions is being left out of existing global fire and climate models, means we’re drastically underestimating carbon emissions from Arctic and Boreal environments…
“Boreal fires are becoming larger, more frequent and more intense. Burned area has increased as fire seasons stretch longer, return intervals between fires shorten, and single ignitions can result in massive blazes that burn further and deeper and cause greater carbon loss.
“In 2023, for example, while the number of ignitions has been lower than most years since the 1990s, burned area as of August has far surpassed any year in the past three decades.”
https://www.woodwellclimate.org/boreal-fires-climate-change-4-graphics/
I agree with Panopticon that his interesting reporting is marred by his ignorance (IMO) of the geopolitical realities. I did not know about Canada’s triaging policy (in P’s comment).
Ok, I’ll admit to not wanting to interject much of anything into such a dismal process, but when C&E unearths one of humanity’s core existential riddles in a link, humanity is obliged to ponder it out loud, away from the skin-crackling heat of the Wimbledon courts.
How DOES one of the world’s most academically credentialed, experienced, important climate scientists, nominated to be the head of the Working Group III of the IPCC, work publicly and consistently for Aramco, one of the world’s largest state corporate extractors and producers of fossil fuels?
How, similarly, would it be if the Chief Inspector of the Scotland Yard was also the appointed consigliere for the ‘Ndrangheta?
How would the authorities involved have explained to the world that the chief judge of the Nuremburg Court had been in the employ of the Nazis during World War II?
I simply could not begin to provide a possible rationalization in any of these cases. The Politico article skims over the riddle without much wake being produced.
The UN’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights issued a profound paper in yesterday’s news from other sources, calling for the “defossilization” of the global economy as in yesterday. What does Dr. Babikar from Aramco have to say about this? Babikar? Babikar? Babikar?
Riddles with no answers are all that humanity is going to have left.
That’s good stuff – thanks for the laugh, Martin.
I also wondered how Babikar himself feels about the situation. Does he understand or care that his own inclusion is problematic? Is he socially shunned by the other scientists at conferences and junkets, sadly eating his lunch by himself in the cafeteria? Enquiring minds need to know. 😂
As a dear friend said recently, we live on Planet Crazy. To me that is the only (non) answer to your excellent question, Martin.
I would like to congratulate the 8 billion for doing everything possible in destroying the habitat. Wait! I think they can do even more damage without much effort but they will be breaking a sweat sooner than they think.;-)
I’m really beginning to enjoy the suffering they have brought to the ones they say they love.
Children, be worried when they call you America’s most valuable natural resource. Have you seen what they’ve done to the other natural resources? – Utah Phillips