2026 Has Already Broken Climate Records. El Niño Could Break More

By -
By Grace van Deelen, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: As the midpoint of the year approaches, several climate records have already been broken. Arctic winter sea ice extent reached a record low. Several countries saw record-breaking winter heat waves. And more than 150 million hectares have already burned globally in wildfires. The increasingly likely emergence of an El Niño this summer will likely continue the year’s record-breaking weather trends and could lead to “an unprecedented year of global fire,” according to a statement from World Weather Attribution, a climate research collaboration. ...El Niño typically temporarily boosts global temperatures. ...At a press briefing on 11 May hosted by World Weather Attribution, climate scientists outlined the potential risks of this emerging El Niño against the backdrop of human-caused climate change, including intensifying wildfire seasons, extreme heat waves, and worsening droughts.... 


Popular posts from this blog

New Lessons from Old Ice: How We Understand Past (and Future) Heating

By -
By Mariana Mastache-Maldonado , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: Fragments of blue ice up to 6 million years old—the oldest ever found—offer key insights into Earth’s warming cycles. Researchers are using these ancient data to refine models of our future climate. ...In Antarctica...rare formations known as blue ice areas may offer a distinct look into that deep past. These areas, which make up barely 1% of the continent, form where strong winds strip away surface snow. ...The Allan Hills region, situated on the edge of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.... Here researchers have discovered ice up to 6 million years old—the oldest yet found. Their  study  of the ice, published in  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , revealed that parts of it formed during periods far warmer than today—times when sea levels were higher and open forests and grasslands covered much of the planet. ...studying the atmospheric remnants trapped in blue ice, the rese...
Read more

E.P.A. Delays Requirements to Cut Methane, a Potent Greenhouse Gas

By -
By Lisa Friedman  and  Maxine Joselow , The New York Times.  Excerpt: The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Wednesday that it would delay a requirement that the oil and gas industry limit emissions of methane, a powerful planet-warming gas. Under the requirement, which dates to the Biden administration, oil and gas companies were supposed to start this year reducing the amount of methane they release into the atmosphere. Instead, the Trump administration is giving them until January 2027 and is considering repealing the measure altogether. The move dealt a blow to any remaining effort by the United States to slow Earth’s dangerous warming. It came after the Trump administration  boycotted the United Nations climate summit  this month, the first time that the United States was not present since the annual meetings began 30 years ago....  Full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/climate/epa-delays-methane-oil-gas.html . 
Read more

A cool, salty solution

By -
By Science Advisor.  Excerpt: By the 1990s, the world had achieved a striking victory: largely banning chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), compounds used as refrigerants but destructive to the ozone layer. Unfortunately, their replacements, while safer for ozone, are still potent greenhouse gases; they contribute a few percent to emissions globally. Alternatives to compressible liquid coolants have so far suffered from inefficient heat transfer and the inability to scale. In a typical refrigerator or air conditioner, cooling is achieved by transporting heat away from the system using a fluid that absorbs heat, evaporates into a gas, and gets condensed back into a liquid. Researchers probed a different way to cool down:  adding ions to water to improve its ability to absorb heat  , similar to how we spread salt on the roads to melt snow in the winter. The team ...determined that the cooling process was three times more efficient than conventional systems and could reduce electrici...
Read more