Veille 2.1

An intense heat wave gripping South and South-East Asia since late March comes as no surprise to leading meteorologists who have been warning of steadily rising temperatures in the Indian Ocean.

Human-caused climate crisis brought soaring temperatures across Asia, from Gaza to Delhi to Manila

Climate scientists have told the Guardian they expect catastrophic levels of global heating. Here’s what that would mean for the planet

Exclusive: Planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity, poll of hundreds of scientists finds

Europe is no exception when it comes to the consequences of climate change. It is the fastest warming continent, with temperatures rising at around twice the global average rate.

If the anomaly does not stabilise by August, ‘the world will be in uncharted territory’, says climate expert

Taking into account all known factors, the planet warmed 0.2 °C more last year than climate scientists expected. More and better data are urgently needed. Taking into account all known factors, the planet warmed 0.2 °C more last year than climate scientists expected. More and better data are urgently needed.

Evidence shows a continuing increase in the frequency and severity of global heatwaves1,2, raising concerns about the future impacts of climate change and the associated socioeconomic costs3,4. Here we develop a disaster footprint analytical framework by integrating climate, epidemiological and hybrid input–output and computable general equilibrium global trade models to estimate the midcentury socioeconomic impacts of heat stress. We consider health costs related to heat exposure, the value of heat-induced labour productivity loss and indirect losses due to economic disruptions cascading through supply chains. Here we show that the global annual incremental gross domestic product loss increases exponentially from 0.03 ± 0.01 (SSP 245)–0.05 ± 0.03 (SSP 585) percentage points during 2030–2040 to 0.05 ± 0.01–0.15 ± 0.04 percentage points during 2050–2060. By 2060, the expected global economic losses reach a total of 0.6–4.6% with losses attributed to health loss (37–45%), labour productivity loss (18–37%) and i

Rapid ocean warming and unusually hot winter days recorded as human-made global heating combines with El Niño

Marine heat waves will become a regular occurrence in the Arctic in the near future and are a product of higher anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions, according to a study just released by Dr. Armineh Barkhordarian from Universität Hamburg's Cluster of Excellence for climate research CLICCS. Since 2007, conditions in the Arctic have shifted, as confirmed by data recently published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. Between 2007 and 2021, the marginal zones of the Arctic Ocean experienced 11 marine heat waves, producing an average temperature rise of 2.2 degrees Celsius above seasonal norm and lasting an average of 37 days. Since 2015, there have been Arctic marine heat waves every year.

James Hansen says limit will be passed ‘for all practical purposes’ by May though other experts predict that will happen in 2030s

The effect of increasing the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) on global average surface air temperature might be expected to be constant, but this is not the case. A study published in the journal Science shows that carbon dioxide becomes a more potent greenhouse gas as more is released into the atmosphere.

Crise énergétique, hausse des prix,… faire des économies sur sa consommation de chauffage et d’électricité est une priorité pour de nombreux ménages. Pour éviter les factures trop salées, plusieurs solutions existent. Les chercheurs des universités de Bruxelles et de Louvain ont mis au point une astuce infaillible pour diminuer drastiquement sa consommation d’énergie sans pour autant se laisser mourir de froid : le Slow Heat. De quoi s’agit-il ? Que faut-il faire ? Le Slow Heat, la solution pour demain ? Les réponses dans Tendances Première.

World Meteorological Organization sees ‘no end in sight to the rising trend’, largely driven by fossil fuel burning

www.slowheat.org

More than 1 billion cows around the world will experience heat stress by the end of the century if carbon emissions are high and environmental protection is low, according to new research published in Environmental Research Letters. This would mean cattle farming would face potentially lethal heat stress in much of the world, including Central America, tropical South America, Equatorial Africa, and South and Southeast Asia.

Heatwaves, wildfires and floods are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, leading climate scientists say

Human-caused climate disruption and El Niño push temperature in mountains to 37C

Antarctica’s sea ice levels are plummeting as extreme weather events happen faster than scientists predicted

It’s the middle of winter in South America, but that hasn’t kept the heat away in Chile, Argentina and surrounding locations. Multiple spells of oddly hot weather have roasted the region in recent weeks. The latest spell early this week has become the most intense, pushing the mercury above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, while setting an August record for Chile.

The baby boomer dream of tanning on the beach is fading as temperatures rise. We are going to have to reinvent July and August.

Following a record hot June, large areas of the US and Mexico, Southern Europe and China experienced extreme heat in July 2023, breaking many local high temperature records.

After hottest day ever, researchers say global heating may mean future of crop failures on land and ‘silent dying’ in the oceans

Energy firms have made record profits by increasing production of oil and gas, far from their promises of rolling back emissions

Three brush fires burning in rural areas across Riverside county, where 1,000 homes are under evacuation orders

A new climate case was filed this week. Multnomah County, the Oregon county that includes Portland, filed suit against several oil majors for their role in exacerbating the climate change that led to the county's "heat dome" in June 2021, which killed 69 people. But the case doesn't just place

Major fossil fuel entities and trade associations including Koch Industries, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Western States Petroleum Association, as well as consulting behemoth McKinsey & Company, were slapped with the latest climate liability lawsuit today with the filing of a complaint in the Oregon Circuit Court in Multnomah County, Oregon.

It’s not that our models can’t simulate small-scale weather – they’re basically the same models we use for weather forecasting – it’s just very computationally expensive to have them zoom in and run in “weather mode” to get a highly detailed simulation.

Mexico and the Caribbean are experiencing the most intense heatwave in their recorded history. The Mexican Plateau is being seared by harsh dry heat, while the Caribbean contends with deadly humid temperatures. On June 12, 2023, the mercury soared above 45 °C (113 °F) in several areas, including regions of high altitude. The city of Torreón, sitting at 1 123 m (3 684 feet) above sea level, saw temperatures rise to 43.3 °C (109.94 °F) on June 12, while Durango Airport, located at 1 872 m (6 142 feet) altitude, experienced 40.4 °C (104.72 °F) heat. La Bufa, perched even higher at 2 612 m (8 570 feet) above sea level, broke all-time records with a temperature of 33.4 °C (92.12 °F).

Read the latest news headlines and analysis about politics, sports, business, lifestyle and entertainment from award winning Irish and British journalists.

World is on track for 2.7C and ‘phenomenal’ human suffering, scientists warn. Up to 1 billion people could choose to migrate to cooler places, the scientists said, although those areas remaining within the climate niche would still experience more frequent heatwaves and droughts. However, urgent action to lower carbon emissions and keep global temperature rise to 1.5C would cut the number of people pushed outside the climate niche by 80%, to 400 million.

Record sea surface temperatures suggest the Earth is headed for ‘uncharted territory’ in terms of sea level rise, coastal flooding and extreme weather

Abstract. The summer of 2022 was memorable and record-breaking, ranking as the second hottest summer in France since 1900, with a seasonal surface air temperature average of 22.7 ∘C. In particular, France experienced multiple record-breaking heatwaves during the meteorological summer. As the main heat reservoir of the Earth system, the oceans are at the forefront of events of this magnitude which enhance oceanic disturbances such as marine heatwaves (MHWs). In this study, we investigate the sea surface temperature (SST) of French maritime basins using remotely sensed measurements to track the response of surface waters to the atmospheric heatwaves and determine the intensity of such feedback. Beyond the direct relationship between SSTs and surface air temperatures, we explore the leading atmospheric parameters affecting the upper-layer ocean heat budget. Despite some gaps in data availability, the SSTs measured during the meteorological summer of 2022 were record-breaking, the mean SST was between 1.3 and 2.6

Eco-fascism, for the uninitiated, is best known as the ideology embraced by the mass shooter who killed 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket last year. The shooter, as E&E News reported at the time, was motivated by “the racist conspiracy theory that the ruling class is using immigration to politically and culturally ‘replace’ white people.” The Buffalo shooter called on others “to view immigration as ‘environmental warfare,’” and to “reclaim environmentalism in the name of white nationalism.” His calls echoed those of the mass shooter who killed 23 people in an El Paso, Texas Walmart in 2019, who was also a self-proclaimed eco-fascist.

Heat and cold are now established health risk factors, with several studies reporting important mortality effects in populations around the world.1, 2, 3 The associated health burden is expected to increase with climate change, especially under the most extreme scenarios of global warming.4, 5 However, robust estimates of excess mortality in the current and future periods are still challenging to obtain due to the numerous factors influencing vulnerability to heat and cold, including climatic, environmental, and socioeconomic conditions.6 These factors represent the main drivers of variation in mortality risks, which have been shown to differ geographically and across age groups.

The problem with American electric vehicles is the same problem as with our gas-powered models: They’re too dang big. The Ford F-150 has been the top-selling automobile in the country for many years, and the electric version — while admittedly quite nifty — weighs 3.25 tons. The new electric Hummer is even more ridiculous, coming in at 9,000 pounds, with a 212-kilowatt-hour battery that weighs more than a Mazda Miata.

The sharp rise in fossil fuel subsidies is just one example of why activists say climate treaties are so often meaningless.

More than 40% of land vertebrates will be threatened by extreme heat by the end of the century under a high emissions scenario, with freak temperatures once regarded as rare likely to become the norm, new research warns. Reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals are being exposed to extreme heat events of increasing frequency, duration and intensity, as a result of human-driven global heating. This poses a substantial threat to the planet’s biodiversity, a new study warns. Under a high emissions scenario of 4.4C warming, 41% of land vertebrates will experience extreme thermal events by 2099, according to the paper, published in Nature.

Wheat is an important global crop, but new research suggests that fungal toxins have contaminated half of all European wheat produced for food. the widespread presence of vomitoxin in our food is concerning. It is not yet known how constant, low-level dietary exposure to mycotoxins can affect human health in the long term. This is compounded by the fact that one-quarter of the wheat contaminated with vomitoxin also contained other FHB mycotoxins, raising concerns of synergism, where toxins interact with each other and cause greater harm than the sum of the individual toxins acting alone.

In 1998, as nations around the world agreed to cut carbon emissions through the Kyoto Protocol, America’s fossil fuel companies plotted their response, including an aggressive strategy to inject doubt into the public debate.

Comment se chauffer sans perdre trop de plumes financièrement ? Dans le contexte actuel, le défi relève de l’impossible. L’approche SlowHeat propose de changer nos habitudes pour atteindre des conditions de chauffage qui apportent le confort nécessaire, tout en consommant moins d’énergie.

Théâtres, écoles, universités, bureaux de poste, piscines, bains, stades, pâtisseries, hôtels… L’explosion des prix du gaz et de l’électricité n’épargne aucun secteur et nombre d’entrepreneurs risquent de cesser définitivement leur activité, déplore le site “Telex”.

In de race tegen de tijd om de internationale klimaatdoelstellingen te halen zijn behalve de klimaatprotesten ook gerechtelijke klimaatzaken een gamechanger. Dat is de hoopvolle boodschap die de theaterhit De zaak Shell van Anoek Nuyens en Rebekka De Wit uitdraagt. VUB-klimaatprofessor Wim Thiery knikt instemmend: “Er lopen in de wereld een tachtigtal klimaatzaken, en we zien nu al de resultaten.”

Semafor launched last week with the goal of “reinventing the news story.” The news story needs reinventing, they say, because people can no longer tell the difference between unbiased fact and opinion. According to the Observer, Semafor has already raised more than $25 million, the majority of which is coming from eight corporate sponsors who want to help the news outlet address distrust in media. One of those sponsors appears to be Chevron, the second biggest climate-polluting company in the world.

The amount of heat accumulating in the ocean is accelerating and penetrating ever deeper, with widespread effects on extreme weather events and marine life, according to a new scientific review.

Comprendre les 739 décès de juillet 1995 requiert ce que l’auteur appelle une « autopsie sociale », qui consiste, en suivant la métaphore organiciste, à disséquer les différents « organes sociaux de la ville et [à] identifier les conditions » (p. 64) qui ont conduit à la mort d’autant de personnes. Dans une veine résolument critique, il s’agit d’ébranler le « monopole de l’explication, de la définition et de la classification officielles des questions de vie et de mort » (p. 64) que détiennent les institutions politiques et médicales....

Baisser le chauffage, réduire l'éclairage, changer les usages: les trois coups ont sonné pour la sobriété énergétique dans les salles de spectacle et de cinéma, afin de diminuer de 10% la consommation, selon la consigne du gouvernement. - Exit l'éclairage classique - Du Zénith à l'Opéra de Paris, presque toutes les salles ont déjà changé, ou sont en passe de changer, leurs ampoules classiques au LED. L'Opéra Comique et le Théâtre des Champs-Elysées vont accélérer le remplacement de leurs projecteurs scéniques halogènes, très énergivores, par des projecteurs LED.

Quatre chercheurs et une vingtaine de citoyens expérimentent depuis deux ans des techniques et des comportements qui permettent de faire d’énormes économies d’énergie.

Poutine a coupé le gaz. Cet hiver, il n’y en aura peut-être pas assez d’énergie pour chacun des étages de notre société (ménages, entreprises, bâtiments publics). Et si, réellement, la quantité d’énergie disponible pour se chauffer n’est pas suffisante, payer plus cher n’y changera rien : quand il y a pénurie, quand le magasin est vide, même avec beaucoup d’or, il n’y a rien à ramener à la maison. La question n’est alors plus « comment alléger les factures ? » mais devient « comment faire avec moins d’énergie ? ».

This Southern Ocean warming and its associated impacts are effectively irreversible on human time scales, because it takes millennia for heat trapped deep in the ocean to be released back into the atmosphere. This means changes happening now will be felt for generations to come – and those changes are only set to get worse, unless we can stop carbon dioxide emissions and achieve net zero.

In the past 50 years, the oceans have absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat caused by our carbon dioxide emissions, with one ocean absorbing the vast majority.

Two of the UK’s leading hospitals have had to cancel operations, postpone appointments and divert seriously ill patients to other centres for the past three weeks after their computers crashed at the height of last month’s heatwave.

A new database of extreme weather studies makes clear how far policymaking is lagging behind the reality of climate chaos

It’s not too late to avert the climate crisis from becoming even more deadly – but the window is closing

Les conséquences du dérèglement climatique sur les cultures font grimper certains prix alimentaires, contribuant à l’inflation, alerte le site “Grist”.

Les températures ont dépassé, mardi, un niveau jamais atteint au Royaume-Uni avec 40,2°C à l'aéroport d'Heathrow. Comme le reste de l'Europe occidentale, le pays est frappé par une canicule aux feux de forêt dévastateurs.

Climate scientists are clear that it’s already too late to go back to the kind of weather we used to have, but can we stop things from getting a whole lot worse? Professor Michael E Mann – from Penn State university in the United States – and author of ‘The New Climate War’ explains the radical change needed to avert catastrophic temperature rises.

Climate scientists have expressed shock at the UK’s smashed temperature record, with the heat soaring above 40C for the first time ever on Tuesday. Researchers are also increasingly concerned that extreme heatwaves in Europe are occurring more rapidly than models had suggested, indicating that the climate crisis on the European continent may be even worse than feared. Temperature records are usually broken by fractions of a degree, but the 40.2C recorded at Heathrow is 1.5C higher than the previous record of 38.7C recorded in 2019 in Cambridge.

Chief meteorologist says extreme temperatures ‘entirely consistent’ with human-induced climate crisis

Can we talk about it now? I mean the subject most of the media and most of the political class has been avoiding for so long. You know, the only subject that ultimately counts – the survival of life on Earth. Everyone knows, however carefully they avoid the topic, that, beside it, all the topics filling the front pages and obsessing the pundits are dust. Even the Times editors still publishing columns denying climate science know it. Even the candidates for the Tory leadership, ignoring or downplaying the issue, know it. Never has a silence been so loud or so resonant.