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.
The โIโs have it
You may have heard that last week the World Meteorological Organization retired the hurricane name โIDAโ, a decision based on the death and destruction the storm caused in both Louisiana and New York. Whenever I speak, the question comes up of how the names are chosen in the first place and the answer is that they are chosen to reflect the different nationalities that Atlantic basin storms can affect and so there are American, French, Spanish, Dutch and English names. I have written the WMO before suggesting that the names should be more reflective of all the people living in such countries--we are a very diverse people these days! So I was pleased to see the name IDA replaced with IMANI, a name of Arabic origin meaning โfaith.โ There are six hurricane name lists that rotate so you will see some new names and some familiar ones every six years! Here is the 2022 list:
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.
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.
What happens if we run through the Greek alphabet?
Iโve had a number of viewers ask what happens if we go through the Greek alphabet for storm names. Or we could stick with the Greek idea -- Tropical Storm Chi Omega? The bottom line is, we have no fear of running through the Greek alphabet. Per the WMO, once the 21 names on the Atlantic list are exhausted, the Greek alphabet is used. There are 24 names on the Greek alphabet list.
What Happens when we run out of Hurricane Names?
Tropical Storm Teddy's track forecast and looks like it will make Cat 3 strengthAnd the truth is, weโre almost out of names! Theyโve chosen not to use five letters--Q, U, X, Y and Z-- because, apparently, those letters are hard to find names for. Hereโs the 2020 list: Arthur Bertha Cristobal Dolly Edouard Fay Gonzalo Hanna Isaias Josephine Kyle Laura Marco Nana Omar Paulette Rene Sally Teddy Vicky WilfredWe ran out of names in 2005 (the Katrina/Rita year) when the National Hurricane Center named 27 storms--six of them got Greek alphabet names. What happens if we have a Greek alphabet storm that causes catastrophic damage or death and the name needs to be retired? I reached out to Dennis Feltgen, Communications & Public Affairs Officer at the National Hurricane Center, and asked him exactly what would happen.
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.
UN: World could hit 1.5-degree warming threshold by 2024
GENEVA โ The world could see annual global temperatures pass a key threshold for the first time in the coming five years, the U.N. weather agency said Thursday. The 1.5 C mark is the level countries agreed to cap global warming at in the 2015 Paris accord. Scientists say average temperatures around the world are already at least 1 C higher now than from 1850-1900 because of man-made greenhouse emissions. The five-year period is expected to see annual average temperatures that are 0.91 C to 1.59 C higher than pre-industrial averages, it said. The forecast is contained in an annual climate outlook based on several long-term computer models compiled under the leadership of the United Kingdomโs Met Office.
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.
Harvey, others officially retired as names of hurricanes
HOUSTON โ The World Meteorological Organization announced Thursday that the name Harvey has been officially retired for use as a hurricane. The center also retired the names Irma, Maria and Nate. Harvey was the second costliest storm behind Katrina. Sixty-eight people were killed in Harvey.