I feel like I am safe in saying that we are not thriving on our changing planet – and we will not in the coming decades My house in Altadena burned down in the wildfires on Wednesday. It all happened quickly. On Tuesday around 7pm, my wife and daughters went to a hotel as a … Read more
The news from California is clear, but we don’t want to see it. It’s too confounding, big, complex. But we can sense the danger When I send anxious texts to friends in Los Angeles – friends who have been evacuated or who are waiting to leave , friends escaping a fire zone, wondering if their … Read more
John Vaillant, the author of Fire Weather, explains why fires such as those in Los Angeles are different from those before When writing about the hot, dry Santa Ana winds and how they affect the behavior and imaginations of southern Californians, Joan Didion once said: “The winds show us how close to the edge we … Read more
Death toll rises to at least 24 as first identifications emerge of Los Angeles residents killed in fires Californians: have you been affected by the wildfires? At least 24 people have died in the wildfires surging across the Los Angeles area, the largest of which are burning about 25 miles west and north of downtown, … Read more
Terminal Temperature Acceleration? On December 30, 2024, the temperature was at a record high for the time of year. Given that La Niña suppresses temperatures, the question is what is driving up the temperature. The red dots in the above image are Copernicus ERA5 global daily mean near-surface (2m) air temperature anomalies December 13, 2022 … Read more
Sea ice [ click on images to enlarge ] The above image shows Arctic sea ice extent from November 5 to December 24, a period when Arctic sea ice is growing in extent. The red line shows 2024 sea ice extent through November 23, 2024. Dots mark Arctic sea ice extent on November 23 for … Read more
Models that analyze what is driving up the temperature all too often omit specific sources, or when included, models all too often downplay their contribution. Accordingly, policies that are promoted based on such models are all too often ineffective or even counter-productive. Methane is all too often referred to as ‘natural gas’ originating from wetlands, … Read more
A double Blue Ocean Event could occur in 2025. Both Antarctic sea ice and Arctic sea ice could virtually disappear in 2025. A Blue Ocean Event (BOE) occurs when sea ice extent falls to 1 million km² or less, which could occur early 2025 for Antarctic sea ice and in Summer 2025 in the Northern … Read more
[ click on images to enlarge ] Temperatures remain extremely high, even though La Niña conditions may already be present, as illustrated by the above image, showing sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) versus 1981-2011. The image on the right shows the Northern Hemisphere (-90°,90°) with SSTA as high as 24.8°F (13.8°C) in Hudson Bay (green … Read more
by Andrew Glikson What further evidence do the inhabitants of planet Earth need to have to convince them the liveable climate, the lungs of the Earth, is sharply deteriorating, species are dying, the mere failure of a computer chip or of a human neuron are capable of terminating civilization, that the powers that be are … Read more