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Category: Science (Page 2 of 3)

It’s official. July was the hottest month on record. By far

2023-08-09 /

AP »

July’s global average temperature of 16.95 degrees Celsius (62.51 degrees Fahrenheit) was a third of a degree Celsius (six tenths of a degree Fahrenheit) higher than the previous record set in 2019, Copernicus Climate Change Service announced Tuesday. Normally global temperature records are broken by hundredths or a tenth of a degree, so this margin is unusual.

The United States is now at a record 15 different weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday. It’s the most mega-disasters through the first seven months of the year since the agency tracked such things starting in 1980, with the agency adjusting figures for inflation.

“These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events,” said Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess. There have been deadly heat waves in the Southwestern United States and Mexico, Europe and Asia. Scientific quick studies put the blame on human-caused climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.

The era of global warming has ended and “the era of global boiling has arrived”

2023-07-27 /

The Guardian »

“Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning,” Guterres said. “It is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C [above pre-industrial levels], and avoid the very worst of climate change. But only with dramatic, immediate climate action.”

Guterres’s comments came after scientists confirmed on Thursday that the past three weeks have been the hottest since records began and July is on track to be the hottest month ever recorded.

UN | VoA |

This month’s heat is likely the hottest Earth has been in about 120,000 years, easily the hottest of human civilization [Updated]

2023-07-25 /
New scientific report identifies "the fingerprints of climate change"

Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.

Euronews »

The new study by World Weather Attribution – a research group comprised of international climatologists – has found that the deadly hot spells in the American Southwest and Southern Europe could not have happened without the continuing build up of warming gases in the air.

These unusually strong heat waves are becoming more common, Tuesday’s study said. The same research found the increase in heat-trapping gases, largely from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas has made another heat wave — the one in China — 50 times more likely with the potential to occur every five years or so.

A stagnant atmosphere, warmed by carbon dioxide and other gases, also made the European heat wave 2.5 degrees Celsius hotter, the one in the United States and Mexico 2 degrees Celsius warmer and the one in China one 1 degree Celsius hotter, the study found.

Study finds human-caused climate change a definitive factor in brutal heat waves

Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.

As Earth sizzles, climate denialists rearrange deck chairs

2023-07-23 /

Eve Ottenberg, Counter Punch »

The problem is known. It has been known for generations, to scientists and to the oil, gas and coal companies who researched and then concealed the lethal effects of their product. Simply put, our social and political economy, structured around burning fossil fuels, heats the earth. The chief culprits in this profligate burning are wealthy countries and their massive organizations like the American military. Small, poor countries have small carbon footprints. This deadly pollution cannot be blamed on them or their so-called excessive birth-rate.

Global Warming, Greenhouse Gases and Pollution » Time is running out on the Climate Clock

2023-07-23 /

The Verge »

As anyone who’s experienced the weather lately knows, the situation is already bad. The world had its hottest week on record at the start of the month, according to preliminary data, with heatwaves still smashing local records across the Northern Hemisphere. And that’s just one way climate change is bringing on dangerous new extremes.

Today, the planet is about 1.1 degrees Celsius hotter than it was before the Industrial Revolution, thanks to carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. It’s what’s driving more intense heatwaves, wildfires, storms, and sea level rise. That’s why world leaders agreed, as part of the landmark Paris agreement, to keep the planet from warming much more than it already has. Every fraction of a degree comes with more severe consequences.

The heat index reached 67℃ (152℉) at the Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran — near the limit for human survival

2023-07-18 /

Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran reported a heat index of 152°F (66.7°C) today at 12:30 pm.

Scott Dance, Washington Post »

In recent days, China set an all-time high of nearly 126 degrees Fahrenheit, while Death Valley hit 128 degrees, two shy of the highest reliably measured temperature on Earth. Phoenix experienced a record-breaking 19th consecutive day at or above 110 degrees Tuesday. And in the Middle East, the heat index reached 152 degrees, nearing — or surpassing — levels thought to be the most intense the human body can withstand.

World experiences hottest week ever recorded » meteorologists forecast a lot more to come

2023-07-16 /

The Guardian »

Soaring levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and an unusual band of strong winds that have hovered high over the Atlantic have already triggered heatwaves in Texas, Greece, Spain, Italy, and a host of other nations.

Red weather alerts have been issued across Europe; wildfires are raging in Croatia, on the Adriatic coast, and in Navarra in Spain; while tourist targets such as the Acropolis have been closed as temperatures have soared into the forties.

The transition to a zero carbon economy needs psychology as well as technology

2023-07-11 /

Note » The linked article in The Guardian is paid for by the University of Derby in the UK.

The Guardian »

“We need to appreciate that it can be challenging for people adapting to new technologies and we must consider them as part of the solution as well as just the engineering solution itself,” says Chris Sansom, professor of concentrating solar power at the University of Derby, whose research focuses on finding solutions for cleaner energy across the globe.

Sansom notes that zero carbon research is concerned with many different elements. The University of Derby has a range of leading experts exploring zero carbon in relation to decarbonising manufacturing and business processes, generating low-carbon renewable energy, transporting people by zero carbon means, as well as understanding natural processes for greenhouse gas removal. “While these may provide the scientific solutions we need, a number of things can get in the way of that,” he says – such as the challenges for local residents and other people who struggle to adapt.

Temperatures are already off the charts, but more records are imminent

2023-07-10 /

Global sea surface temperatures reached record highs in May, June, and July of this year – and the warming El Niño weather pattern is only just getting started, said experts at the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

UN »

“We are actually at the beginning of that process, so El Niño hasn’t had as much of an effect as it is going to later in the year. So, we’re seeing these high temperatures in the North Atlantic…despite the fact that El Niño hasn’t really got going yet.”

According to the WMO’s Mr. Baddour, the warmest year is expected to be post-2023, when El Niño is expected to pick up. A record year in 2024 is likely, if the strength of El Niño continues to develop in line with forecasts.

Ireland and Sweden join countries calling for moratorium on extraction of metals from seabed

2023-07-09 /

Karen McVeigh and Chris Michael, The Guardian »

Much is at stake. Scientists have warned of large-scale, severe and irreversible harm to global ocean ecosystems, already threatened by the climate and biodiversity crises, if deep-sea mining goes ahead. Too little is known about the ocean’s abyss even to draw up regulations, they say.

Last month, the European Academies Science Advisory Council warned of the “dire consequences” for marine ecosystems and against the “misleading narrative” that deep-sea mining is necessary for metals required to meet the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Democracy under threat from the far-right MAGA republicans » Disinformation researchers under investigation

2023-07-09 /

Jeff Tollefson, Nature »

Researchers who study how disinformation spreads are under investigation in the United States for allegedly helping to censor conservative opinions about COVID-19 vaccines and government elections. Jim Jordan, a US representative for Ohio, is leading the charge against the scientists. He is also one of the Republican leaders who have suggested that the Democrats have stolen the 2020 presidential election from former president Donald Trump, and who have made unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud.

US federal government approves largest-ever offshores wind project, expected to generate around 1,100 megawatts of clean energy

2023-07-06 /

Quartz »

Biden’s wind power goals, by the digits

  • 380,000: Homes the Ocean Wind 1 project can power with its energy, according to the interior department
  • 3,000: “Good-paying” jobs the New Jersey project will generate “through development and a three-year construction cycle,” the federal agency said
  • 98: The number of wind turbine generators the Ocean Wind 1 project has permission to construct, according to the Record of Decision (ROD) documents. Additionally, it can build three offshore substations within its lease area
  • $695 million: How much Ørsted expects to spend on the Ocean Wind 1 project in New Jersey. It has some federal help—the New Jersey legislature narrowly approved a bill last week to let Ørsted keep federal tax credits to insulate it from rising costs due to inflation and the covid-19 pandemic hangover
  • 30 gigawatts (GW): President Biden’s offshore wind power generation goal by 2030, which will power 10 million homes, and create 77,000 jobs

First major survey of British doctors with Long Covid reveals debilitating impact on health, life and work

2023-07-05 /

BMJ »

Key findings include:

  • Doctors reported a wide range of symptoms, including fatigue, headaches, muscular pain, nerve damage, joint pain, ongoing respiratory problems and many more.
  • Around 60% of doctors told the BMA that post-acute Covid ill health has impacted on their ability to carry out day-to-day activities on a regular basis;
  • Almost one in five respondents (18%) reported that they were now unable to work due to their post-acute Covid ill-health;
  • Less than one in three (31%) doctors said they were working full-time, compared to more than half (57%) before the onset of their illness;
  • Nearly half (48%) said they have experienced some form of loss of earnings as a result of post-acute Covid;
  • 54% of respondents acquired Covid-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, and 77% of these believed that they contracted Covid -19 in the workplace;
  • A small minority of doctors had access to respiratory protective equipment (RPE) around the time that they contracted Covid-19, with only 11% having access to an FFP2 respirator and 16% an FFP3 respirator;
  • More than 65% of doctors responding said their post-acute Covid symptoms had not been investigated thoroughly and effectively by an NHS long Covid clinic or centre. And almost half of doctors reported not even being referred to an NHS long Covid clinic at all.

Monday may have set a global record for the hottest day ever. Tuesday was even hotter. Wednesday may break it again. [Updated]

2023-07-05 /

AP »

The planet’s temperature spiked on Tuesday to its hottest day in at least 44 years and likely much longer, and Wednesday could become the third straight day Earth unofficially marks a record-breaking high, the latest in a series of climate-change extremes that alarm but don’t surprise scientists.

The globe’s average temperature reached 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit (17.18 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, a common tool based on satellite data and computer simulations and used by climate scientists for a glimpse of the world’s condition. On Monday, the average temperature was 62.6 degrees Fahrenheit (17.01 degrees Celsius), breaking a record that lasted only 24 hours.

~~~

For two straight days, the global average temperature spiked into uncharted territory. After scientists talked about Monday’s dramatic heat, Tuesday (July 4th, 2023) temperatures soared 0.17 C hotter, which is a huge temperature jump in terms of global averages and records.

National Observer » Unofficial record for hottest days in human record keeping smashed for two days running

AP | Washington Post | NBC | PBS | The Guardian

Toyota claims solid-state battery breakthrough with a possible range of 1,200 km that charges in 10 minutes

2023-07-05 /

The Guardian »

David Bailey, a professor of business economics at the University of Birmingham, said that if Toyota’s claims were founded, it could be a landmark moment for the future of electric cars.

“Often there are breakthroughs at the prototype stage but then scaling it up is difficult,” he said. “If it is a genuine breakthrough it could be a gamechanger, very much the holy grail of battery vehicles.”

FT | The Driven | CleanTechnica

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