February smashed a century of global temperature records by “stunning” margin, according to data released by NASA. The unprecedented leap led scientists, usually wary of highlighting a single month’s temperature, to label the new record a “shocker” and warn of a “climate emergency.”
Climate Urgency
Jump to a Subcategory
All News Categories
Crops and Climate — Citizen Scientist
The threat to agriculture is seldom mentioned among the impacts of global climate change. Few other economic activities depend so much on climate. Year-to-year variations in climate, including rainfall and the length of the growing season, remain the greatest determinant of agricultural productivity and the cost of food.
Fracking could be behind startling increase in US methane surge, experts say — Independent (UK)
Methane leaks across US pose a much greater threat than Aliso Canyon — The Guardian
When Stephen Conley, an atmospheric scientist and pilot, saw an emissions indicator skyrocket in his Mooney TLS prop plane, he knew he had found a significant methane leak. His gas-detecting Picarro analyzer indicated he was flying through a plume of gas escaping at 900kg per hour. The colorless, odorless gas was enough to cover a football field to a height of 20 feet in a single day. But this flight wasn’t over the highly publicized Aliso Canyon in Los Angeles; Conley was circling the Bakken Shale, a rock formation in western North Dakota that has been aggressively pumped for oil and natural gas.
US ‘likely culprit’ of global spike in methane emissions over last decade — The Guardian
Wind, Sun and Fire — The New York Times
Last year was the hottest on record, by a wide margin, which should — but won’t — put an end to climate deniers’ claims that global warming has stopped. The truth is that climate change just keeps getting scarier; it is, by far, the most important policy issue facing America and the world. Still, this election wouldn’t have much bearing on the issue if there were no prospect of effective action against the looming catastrophe.
2015 Was Hottest Year in Historical Record, Scientists Say — New York Times
Scientists reported Wednesday that 2015 was the hottest year in the historical record by far, breaking a mark set only the year before — a burst of heat that has continued into the new year and is roiling weather patterns all over the world. “The whole system is warming up, relentlessly,” said Gerald A. Meehl, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.