Darker, Less Cloudy Earth Contributed to Record Heat

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By Nathaniel Scharping, Eos/AGU. Excerpt: In a string of ever-hotter years, 2023 stood out: It was the warmest on record (though 2024 will likely surpass it), with temperatures 1.4°C (2.5°F) above the preindustrial average and 0.17°C (0.3°F) above the previous record set in 2016. One cause for the spike may have been that Earth was just a little darker than it’s been in recent history. Earth’s albedo, a measure of how reflective the surface is, hit a record low in 2023, according to the authors of a study in Science. That record was due mainly to a dearth of bright, low-level clouds, which reflect more solar radiation than land or ocean. The answers to why these clouds were absent and, crucially, whether the trend will continue are still unclear.... 

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2024 was the hottest year on record, breaching a critical climate goal and capping 10 years of unprecedented heat

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By Laura Paddison , CNN.  Excerpt: It’s official: 2024 was the hottest year on record, breaking the  previous record  set in 2023 and pushing the world over a critical climate threshold, according to new data from Europe’s climate monitoring agency Copernicus [ https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-2024-first-year-exceed-15degc-above-pre-industrial-level ]. Last year was 1.6 degrees hotter than the period before humans began burning large amounts of fossil fuels, Copernicus found. It makes 2024 the first calendar year to breach  the 1.5-degree limit  countries agreed to avoid under the Paris climate agreement in 2015. Scientists are much more concerned about breaches over decades, rather than single years — as above that threshold humans and ecosystems may struggle to adapt — but 2024’s   record   “does mean we’re getting dangerously close,” said Joeri Rogelj, a climate professor at Imperial College London....  Full article at https://www.cnn.c...
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Where Glaciers Melt, the Rivers Run Red

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By Mitra Taj , The New York Times.  Excerpt: As the glaciers of South America retreat, the supply of freshwater is dwindling and its quality is getting worse. Dionisia Moreno, a 70-year-old Indigenous farmer, still remembers when Shallap River, nearly 13,000 feet up in the Cordillera Blanca, brought crystal clear water brimming with trout to her village, Jancu. “People and animals alike could drink the water without suffering,” she said. “Now the water is red. No one can drink it.”....  Full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/science/peru-glaciers-water-pollution.html . 
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How will China impact the future of climate change? You might be surprised

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