Consequences

About four million common murres were killed by a domino effect of ecosystem changes, and the population is showing no signs of recovery, according to new research.

The first evidence was the feathered bodies washing up on Alaskan beaches. They were common murres, sleek black-and-white seabirds that typically spend months at a time away from land. But in 2015 and 2016, officials tallied 62,000 emaciated corpses from California to Alaska.

Since then, scientists have been piecing together what happened to the birds, along with other species in the northeast Pacific that suddenly died or disappeared. It became clear that the culprit was an record-breaking marine heat wave, a mass of warm water that would come to be known as the Blob.

With just two months until the winter solstice, temperatures are finally cooling off, a relief from the relentless heat Nevadans experienced this summer. From July through September, Las Vegas recorded 74 days above 100 degrees, making it the hottest summer period since record keeping began in 1937.
The city easily broke its own heat record July 7, when temperatures reached a scorching 120 degrees.

In Northern Nevada, Reno set its own record by recording four consecutive days with temperatures of 105 degrees. Nevadans across the state suffered. Along with the scorching temperatures, state officials recorded a substantial increase in the number of people seeking treatment for heat-related illness.

Global temperatures hit the highest levels in recorded history on Monday — breaking a record set only 24 hours earlier, according to preliminary data from Europe’s top climate monitor. The consecutive historic days — which came on the heels of 13 straight months of unprecedented temperatures and the hottest year scientists have ever seen — are yet another worrying sign of how human-caused climate change is pushing the planet to dangerous new extremes, scientists say.

Before July 2023, Earth’s daily average temperature record — set in August 2016 — was 16.8 degrees Celsius (62.24 degrees Fahrenheit). But in the past year, the global temperature has exceeded that old record on 58 days.

Climate change is pushing the Sonoran Desert to the brink, with saguaro cacti as a bellwether of the impending disaster.

… In fact, since the Desert Botanical Garden’s founding in 1939, there is no record of a loss equal to this one. Among the over 1,000 saguaros on the grounds, perhaps a single arm is lost in a given year, and even then it’s generally from storm damage. This summer, a total of 13 arms dropped, and not one fell during a storm. Within days, some of these mutilated giant cacti had collapsed entirely.

The detached giant arms lying on the ground made for riveting video on news programs. But saguaros are only the most recognized species suffering, and the problem goes far beyond …

The insurance turmoil caused by climate change — which had been concentrated in Florida, California and Louisiana — is fast becoming a contagion. In 2023, insurers lost money on homeowners coverage in 18 states, so insurance companies are raising premiums by as much as 50 percent or more, cutting back on coverage or leaving entire states altogether.

“At more than a dozen tide gauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than they were in 2010 — a change similar to what occurred over the previous five decades.” (This eports on a major investigation by the Washington Post.)

from WaPo Scott Dance, Sarah Kaplan, and Veronica Penney | January 9, 2024 The year 2023 was the hottest in recorded human history, Europe’s top climate agency announced Tuesday, with blistering surface temperatures and torrid…

One fan died and many others fainted at Taylor Swift’s concert on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, where temperatures felt like nearly 140 degrees Fahrenheit, a record for the city, and fans said they struggled to get water. Hours before she was set to take the stage on Saturday night, Ms. Swift announced on social media that the show was being postponed because of the extreme temperatures in Rio.

The next time someone objects that investing in the transition will cost a lot of money, you can share this and other “hard economic” numbers — the heat imposes REAL costs not to mention the damage done to property, health and general well-being

An “extremely dangerous” heat wave is ramping up from Florida to California, and is poised to topple records and threaten public health.   The big picture: The extreme heat has prompted the National Weather Service to issue…

Not only is Florida sizzling in record-crushing heat, but the ocean waters that surround it are scorching, as well. The unprecedented ocean warmth around the state — connected to historically warm oceans worldwide — is further intensifying its heat wave and stressing coral reefs, with conditions that could end up strengthening hurricanes.

(from Bill McKibbin’s The Crucial Years substack.)
(See also, companion article in Las Vegas Sun)

Monday July 3 was the hottest day anyone had ever  measured on planet earth.

True, our system for measuring the global average temperature—a network of weather stations, ocean buoys, and satellites—only dates back to 1979, but that means that at a bare minimum it was the hottest day a large majority of the earth’s population had ever been alive to witness. And in truth, we […]