UN weather agency issues 'red alert' on climate change after record heat, ice-melt increases in 2023
The U.N. weather agency is sounding a โred alertโ about global warming, citing record-smashing increases last year in greenhouse gases, land and water temperatures and melting of glaciers and sea ice.
UN agency cites worrying warming trend as COP28 summit grapples with curbing climate change
The U.N. weather agency is reporting that glaciers shrank more than ever from 2011 and 2020 and the Antarctic ice sheet lost 75 percent more compared to the previous ten years, as it released its latest stark report about the fallout on the planet from climate change.
UN weather agency says 2023 is the hottest year on record, warns of further climate extremes ahead
The U.N. weather agency says 2023 is all but certain to be the hottest year on record, and warning of worrying trends that suggest increasing floods, wildfires, glacier melt, and heat waves in the future.
July has been so blistering hot, scientists already calculate that it's the warmest month on record
July has been so hot so far that scientists calculate that this month will be the globally hottest on record and likely the warmest human civilization has seen, even though there are several days left to sweat through.
UN agency: 2M killed, $4.3 trillion in damages from extreme weather over past half-century
The U.N. weather agency reported Monday that nearly 12,000 extreme weather, climate and water-related events over much of the past half-century around the globe have killed more than 2 million people and caused economic damage of $4.3 trillion.
Flirting with climate danger: UN forecasts 2 in 3 chance of briefly hitting key heat limit soon
The United Nations' weather agency says there's a two-out-of-three chance that the world will reach the internationally accepted global temperature threshold for limiting the worst effects of climate change sometime in the next five years.
Hereโs the list of storm names for the 2021 hurricane season
Storms are given a name to help communication between forecasters and the overall public. During the season, forecasters could be tracking and supplying information on multiple storms. Naming them allows information to be streamlined to reduce confusion about which storm is being described.
Bye Alpha, Eta: Greek alphabet ditched for hurricane names
(NOAA via AP)With named storms coming earlier and more often in warmer waters, the Atlantic hurricane season is going through some changes with meteorologists ditching the Greek alphabet during busy years. The Greek alphabet had only been used twice in 2005 and nine times last year in a record-shattering hurricane season. AdMeanwhile, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is recalculating just what constitutes an average hurricane season. STARTING EARLIERMIT hurricane researcher Kerry Emanuel said โthis whole idea of hurricane season should be revisited." So a warming world means the new normal is busy hurricane seasons just like the last 30 years.
Forecasters are considering an earlier start to hurricane season -- hereโs why
Forecasters have run out of traditional names for the Atlantic hurricane season. An effort is underway to examine the potential advantages and disadvantages of changing the official start date of the Atlantic hurricane season,โ said Communications and Public Affairs Officer Dennis Feltgen. These scheduled updates will be sent out four times a day at 2 a.m., 8 a.m., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.Is the Atlantic hurricane season becoming more active outside of official hurricane season dates? If looking at the stats, in recent years, weโve seen more activity outside of the official hurricane season dates. Regardless of when the tropical outlooks are sent out, or IF hurricane season is eventually extended, remember that tropical systems can form anytime of the year.
UN calls on humanity to end 'war on nature,' go carbon-free
โThere is at least a one-in-five chance of it temporarily exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2024,โ WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said. The Paris climate accord set a goal of not exceeding 1.5-degree (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming since pre-industrial times. --Death Valley, California, hit 129.9 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius), the hottest the world has seen in 80 years. --Record wildfires struck California and Colorado in the western United States, following a major fire season and record heat in Australia. --The Arctic had record wildfires and a prolonged heat wave culminating in a 100-degree mark (38 degrees Celsius) in Siberia in June.
Would Greek alphabet storms get retired if criteria met?
When a hurricane season runs out of names in a particularly active season, the letters of the Greek Alphabet are used. Since the Greek Alphabet is the backup to the list of names every season, there could be a problem if a Greek Alphabet storm is worthy for retirement. Do Greek Alphabet Storms get retired? In 2006, following the first time the Greek Alphabet was required to complete a hurricane season, the WMO decided that it โwasnโt practicalโ to retire a Greek letter if it met the criteria for retirement because the use of the Greek Alphabet doesnโt occur frequently enough. If a Greek Alphabet storm is worthy for retirement, however the Greek letter would be included with the list of retired names with the year of occurrence, but that letter in the Greek Alphabet would still be used in the future.
UN agency laments summer's 'deep wound' to Earth's ice cover
GENEVA The United Nations weather agency says this summer will go down for leaving a deep wound in the cryosphere -- the planets frozen parts -- amid a heat wave in the Arctic, shrinking sea ice and the collapse of a leading Canadian ice shelf. The weather agency said in a statement that many new temperature records have been set in recent months, including in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk. The town, located in Siberia above the Arctic Circle line, reached 38 degrees Celsius (100 F) on June 20. She noted a heat wave across the Arctic, r ecord-breaking wildfires in Siberia, nearly record-low sea ice extent, and the collapse of one of the last fully intact Canadian ice shelves. The WMO is preparing to release on Sept. 9 a report on the impact of climate change on the cryosphere.
Meteorologists seek to confirm 130-degree Death Valley temp
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. An automated measuring system in California's Death Valley reported a temperature of 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) amid a blistering heat wave on Sunday, a reading that would be among the highest ever recorded globally if it is confirmed. If verified, this will be the hottest temperature officially verified since July of 1913, also at Death Valley. As this is an extreme temperature event, the recorded temperature will need to undergo a formal review," the statement said. That temperature was 131 degrees (55 Celsius) recorded in Kebili, Tunisia, on July 7, 1931, and it also is disputed. Death Valley, an austere landscape in the desert of southeastern California, includes Badwater Basin, which at 282 feet (85.9 meters) below sea level is the lowest point in North America.
How do tropical storms and hurricanes get their names?
ORLANDO, Fla. The next name on the 2020 list is raising some questions as to who actually names these storms. If youre looking for the short answer as to who names the storms, the World Meteorological Organization has the responsibility for naming the storms that impact the Atlantic Basin. The pre-designated list of names is proposed by the members that are relevant to where the storms may impact. In 1953, the U.S. began using female names. It wasnt until 1979 that both male and female names were used in the Atlantic Basin.
UN evaluates reports of record Arctic heat in Siberia
In this handout photo provided by Olga Burtseva, children play in the Krugloe lake outside Verkhoyansk, the Sakha Republic, about 4660 kilometers (2900 miles) northeast of Moscow, Russia, Sunday, June 21, 2020. A Siberian town that endures the world's widest temperature range has recorded a new high amid a hear wave that is contributing to severe forest fires. Russia's meteorological service said the thermometer hit 38 Celsius (100.4 F) on Saturday in Verkhoyansk, in the Sakha Republic about 4660 kilometers (2900 miles) northeast of Moscow. (Olga Burtseva via AP)GENEVA The U.N. weather agency is investigating media reports suggesting a new record high temperature of over 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Arctic Circle amid a heatwave and prolonged wildfires in eastern Siberia. The World Meteorological Organization said Tuesday that its looking to verify the temperature reading on Saturday in the Russian town of Verkoyansk with Roshydromet, the Russian federal service for hydro-meteorological and environmental monitoring.