Kelsey Mueller, 16, pets Ruby while waiting with her family to be escorted from the evacuation zone at the Shaver Lake Marina parking lot off of CA-168 during the Creek Fire on Sept. 7, 2020 in Shaver Lake, California. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times / Getty Images
By Daisy Simmons
In a wildfire, hurricane, or other disaster, people with pets should heed the Humane Society's advice: If it isn't safe for you, it isn't safe for your animals either.
<p>Whether your charge is a lap dog, bird, outdoor cat, or farm animal, planning ahead for a potential evacuation can help you protect your animals and also first responders, who may risk their safety to save your pets.</p><p>Take the following measures now to help keep family pets safe should an evacuation become necessary:</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/01/how-to-evacuate-with-pets-during-a-wildfire-hurricane-or-other-disaster/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2650067972#/" target="_self"></a></p>
1. Stay Informed
<p>A first order of business in pet evacuation planning is to understand and be ready for the possible threats in your area. Visit <a href="https://www.ready.gov/be-informed" target="_blank">Ready.gov</a> to learn more about preparing for potential disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and wildfires. Then pay attention to related updates by tuning <a href="http://www.weather.gov/nwr/" target="_blank">NOAA Weather Radio</a> to your local emergency station or using the <a href="https://www.fema.gov/mobile-app" target="_blank">FEMA app</a> to get National Weather Service alerts.</p>2. Ensure Your Pet is Easily Identifiable
<p><span>Household pets, including indoor cats, should wear collars with ID tags that have your mobile phone number. </span><a href="https://www.avma.org/microchipping-animals-faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Microchipping</a><span> your pets will also improve your chances of reunion should you become separated. Be sure to add an emergency contact for friends or relatives outside your immediate area.</span></p><p>Additionally, use <a href="https://secure.aspca.org/take-action/order-your-pet-safety-pack" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">'animals inside' door/window stickers</a> to show rescue workers how many pets live there. (If you evacuate with your pets, quickly write "Evacuated" on the sticker so first responders don't waste time searching for them.)</p>3. Make a Pet Evacuation Plan
<p> "No family disaster plan is complete without including your pets and all of your animals," says veterinarian Heather Case in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9NRJkFKAm4" target="_blank">a video</a> produced by the American Veterinary Medical Association.</p><p>It's important to determine where to take your pet in the event of an emergency.</p><p>Red Cross shelters and many other emergency shelters allow only service animals. Ask your vet, local animal shelters, and emergency management officials for information on local and regional animal sheltering options.</p><p>For those with access to the rare shelter that allows pets, CDC offers <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/emergencies/pets-in-evacuation-centers.html" target="_blank">tips on what to expect</a> there, including potential health risks and hygiene best practices.</p><p>Beyond that, talk with family or friends outside the evacuation area about potentially hosting you and/or your pet if you're comfortable doing so. Search for pet-friendly hotel or boarding options along key evacuation routes.</p><p>If you have exotic pets or a mix of large and small animals, you may need to identify multiple locations to shelter them.</p><p>For other household pets like hamsters, snakes, and fish, the SPCA recommends that if they normally live in a cage, they should be transported in that cage. If the enclosure is too big to transport, however, transfer them to a smaller container temporarily. (More on that <a href="https://www.spcai.org/take-action/emergency-preparedness/evacuation-how-to-be-pet-prepared" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.)</p><p>For any pet, a key step is to establish who in your household will be the point person for gathering up pets and bringing their supplies. Keep in mind that you may not be home when disaster strikes, so come up with a Plan B. For example, you might form a buddy system with neighbors with pets, or coordinate with a trusted pet sitter.</p>4. Prepare a Pet Evacuation Kit
<p>Like the emergency preparedness kit you'd prepare for humans, assemble basic survival items for your pets in a sturdy, easy-to-grab container. Items should include:</p><ul><li>Water, food, and medicine to last a week or two;</li><li>Water, food bowls, and a can opener if packing wet food;</li><li>Litter supplies for cats (a shoebox lined with a plastic bag and litter may work);</li><li>Leashes, harnesses, or vehicle restraints if applicable;</li><li>A <a href="https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/emergencycare/pet-first-aid-supplies-checklist" target="_blank">pet first aid kit</a>;</li><li>A sturdy carrier or crate for each cat or dog. In addition to easing transport, these may serve as your pet's most familiar or safe space in an unfamiliar environment;</li><li>A favorite toy and/or blanket;</li><li>If your pet is prone to anxiety or stress, the American Kennel Club suggests adding <a href="https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/home-living/create-emergency-evacuation-plan-dog/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stress-relieving items</a> like an anxiety vest or calming sprays.</li></ul><p>In the not-unlikely event that you and your pet have to shelter in different places, your kit should also include:</p><ul><li>Detailed information including contact information for you, your vet, and other emergency contacts;</li><li>A list with phone numbers and addresses of potential destinations, including pet-friendly hotels and emergency boarding facilities near your planned evacuation routes, plus friends or relatives in other areas who might be willing to host you or your pet;</li><li>Medical information including vaccine records and a current rabies vaccination tag;</li><li>Feeding notes including portions and sizes in case you need to leave your pet in someone else's care;</li><li>A photo of you and your pet for identification purposes.</li></ul>5. Be Ready to Evacuate at Any Time
<p>It's always wise to be prepared, but stay especially vigilant in high-risk periods during fire or hurricane season. Practice evacuating at different times of day. Make sure your grab-and-go kit is up to date and in a convenient location, and keep leashes and carriers by the exit door. You might even stow a thick pillowcase under your bed for middle-of-the-night, dash-out emergencies when you don't have time to coax an anxious pet into a carrier. If forecasters warn of potential wildfire, a hurricane, or other dangerous conditions, bring outdoor pets inside so you can keep a close eye on them.</p><p>As with any emergency, the key is to be prepared. As the American Kennel Club points out, "If you panic, it will agitate your dog. Therefore, <a href="https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/home-living/create-emergency-evacuation-plan-dog/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pet disaster preparedness</a> will not only reduce your anxiety but will help reduce your pet's anxiety too."</p>Evacuating Horses and Other Farm Animals
<p>The same basic principles apply for evacuating horses and most other livestock. Provide each with some form of identification. Ensure that adequate food, water, and medicine are available. And develop a clear plan on where to go and how to get there.</p><p>Sheltering and transporting farm animals requires careful coordination, from identifying potential shelter space at fairgrounds, racetracks, or pastures, to ensuring enough space is available in vehicles and trailers – not to mention handlers and drivers on hand to support the effort.</p><p>For most farm animals, the Red Cross advises that you consider precautionary evacuation when a threat seems imminent but evacuation orders haven't yet been announced. The American Veterinary Medical Association has <a href="https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/emergencycare/large-animals-and-livestock-disasters" target="_blank">more information</a>.</p>Bottom Line: If You Need to Evacuate, So Do Your Pets
<p>As the Humane Society warns, pets left behind in a disaster can easily be injured, lost, or killed. Plan ahead to make sure you can safely evacuate your entire household – furry members included.</p>From Your Site Articles
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A plume of smoke from wildfires burning in the Angeles National Forest is seen from downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 29, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
California is bracing for rare January wildfires this week amid damaging Santa Ana winds coupled with unusually hot and dry winter weather.
<p>High winds, gusting up to 80- to 90 miles per hour in some parts of the state, are expected to last through Wednesday evening. Nearly the entire state has been in a <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">drought</a> for months, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which, alongside summerlike temperatures, has left vegetation dry and flammable.</p>
<p>Utilities Southern California Edison and PG&E, which serves the central and northern portions of the state, warned it may preemptively shut off power to <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video/5210115-windy-day-leads-to-power-outages-across-socal/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9JllK1SZVMaOyTcSPMtz2yTJMEzjA1-ewH0jlXS8ErQfBGoYoUQzLkgsQ2XdiSXPB__KPOEPr6jKlzvPlIHE-DRQks1w&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hundreds of thousands of customers</a> to reduce the risk of electrical fires sparked by trees and branches falling on live power lines. The rare January fire conditions come on the heels of the <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/top_story/us-wildfire-record/?swcfpc=1&utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8J34_XzeF9edIHUyWCob9FzH21HcdNtnGEzKe57FhbzP1j06o2GW8tHYO1xN1bTsoE4CtXCt9eZX9OTs0VazLQF-EdXw&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">worst wildfire season ever recorded in California</a>, as climate change exacerbates the factors causing fires to be more frequent and severe.</p>
<p>California is also experiencing the most severe surge of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with hospitals and ICUs over capacity and a stay-at-home order in place. Wildfire smoke can <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/covid-19/reduce_exposure_to_wildfire_smoke_covid-19.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8pwsakJDXRpqNUYp2rUNBxpRo6yWEGZWgqUDq0B3umewiF90tjbzeY8jzM7OGOp3JavCAnHMGKSiwcLSzXisrxrDvNSA&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increase the risk</a> of adverse health effects due to COVID, and evacuations forcing people to crowd into shelters could further spread the virus. </p>
<p>As reported by <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/widespread-high-winds-to-rattle-california-raise-wildfire-danger/884509?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Eax-LVSHD77m31Q-7Uuc8YeOXmdnOVHbYcDVQEHXlJj0O_xrW2EyGYPCtTbzR77x96FRkz9ZfUcFKg0fKaniMj94SJA&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">AccuWeather</a>:</p><blockquote>In the atmosphere, air flows from high to low pressure. The setup into Wednesday is like having two giant atmospheric fans working as a team with one pulling and the other pushing the air in the same direction.<br></blockquote><blockquote>Normally, mountains to the north and east of Los Angeles would protect the downtown which sits in a basin. However, with the assistance of the offshore storm, there will be areas of gusty winds even in the L.A. Basin. The winds may get strong enough in parts of the basin to break tree limbs and lead to sporadic power outages and sparks that could ignite fires.</blockquote><blockquote>"Typically, Santa Ana winds stay out of downtown Los Angeles and the L.A. Basin, but this time, conditions may set up just right to bring 30- to 40-mph wind gusts even in those typically calm condition areas," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Mike Doll.</blockquote>
<p> <strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/mountains-fires-california-wildfires-8ba368f1df8f3b8b86cd4383fb07d3e2?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_2TsBvEuOAjOUeIXd5QR7BG1qL_yPgPNfHrgmk1VzhBRLtsAY0SxGZofngcMaFvqzffLIkaA_Y5DqRkmXeYqVU_FKVyQ&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-16/strong-potentially-damaging-winds-possible-for-l-a-region-early-next-week-forecasters-say?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9UI-jgYPhwU5v-5DrnU5pOlW3eMYXNzTE5NEqI7vFqstbf8QHFdViaothnL4Mygy9w_j-qHEwqNAjicAzbotGbguPB9w&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LA Times</a>, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Fire-weather-in-January-Red-flag-warning-coming-15879766.php?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8-1w5paD4uknirx8pjc5dFWN0wwlFwy3JAA1K0JzJpgQbaDFWAxz7LkSRHD9YJPFuAnBar3w1sxgdqHsreRk8qgvfzWg&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">San Francisco Chronicle</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/01/18/los-angeles-high-winds-wildfires/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8HEUcGj2kafFgLH0pfa_nZcE2SfFK81KjUTDmZFX5Ula889Ce3j7wPMGbwjzpspDzFxHeOo6fMlCGV3wPQIONKox0pyA&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Washington Post</a>, <a href="https://weather.com/news/news/2021-01-18-california-high-winds-impacts-power-shutoffs?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8am47ZGT4AXeHDSux4Qe5BYM0CPpYZUUu9o4umO9MwD-FeAhgda_Z3wpikOFfZ-AHKreYOneNPaa1kCR09tjgzkXWSDg&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Weather Channel</a>, <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/widespread-high-winds-to-rattle-california-raise-wildfire-danger/884509?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Eax-LVSHD77m31Q-7Uuc8YeOXmdnOVHbYcDVQEHXlJj0O_xrW2EyGYPCtTbzR77x96FRkz9ZfUcFKg0fKaniMj94SJA&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AccuWeather</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/15/realestate/california-wildfires-rebuild.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--7pE4Jx7sSztHhqcJfdQkj7RR25etHYD7zb8PaTYkfNTpmF6w4E5Ze8hkm64Pk7kPTVt9jXUSg2FXnf0JCTkrOYMosEA&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, Slideshow: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2021/01/15/realestate/california-wildfires-housing.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9uC-_9KXNyR0mHuU2fz6-EwNsNTmRwH0ULGVFeXjtbQxTbLI6lXG5HKOqhhSdp9zwd_yE2r52o6n0_FMC2Qi9PAHSzsQ&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New York Times</a>; Climate Signals Background: <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/climate-change-wildfires?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8osQfRMRxXDwJ3trP4wTKPA-Zk7vfEugJXrCJZ2g2rdaxsUYl75_F-t27gOEEobPTTPR2dQnUt9Se3KdPrCUtv5lapLg&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Wildfires</a>, <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/node/10048?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=107179902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Xo0epd5mwYleW7xliwO7gmsg7yA6dHJNBJfmINkX2Edh4XQ-oMAhx-xrgNKq9d_B31Xl3j5uTWMKH2LRxDU5jawBP9Q&utm_content=107179902&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2020 Western wildfire season</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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For many people, the holidays are rich with time-honored traditions like decorating the Christmas tree, lighting the menorah, caroling, cookie baking, and sipping from the unity cup. But there's another unofficial, official holiday tradition that spans all ages and beliefs and gives people across the world hope for a better tomorrow: the New Year's resolution.
<p>It's believed that ancient Babylonians were the <a href="https://www.cnet.com/health/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions-and-celebrations/#:~:text=4%2C000%20years%20ago%20in%20Babylon%20(around%202000%20B.C.)&text=Most%20historians%20believe%20Babylonians%20were,accordance%20with%20an%20agricultural%20year." target="_blank">first people to make New Year's resolutions</a> some 4,000 years ago. Over time, the popular practice shifted in scope from making promises to the gods about repaying debt to making promises to ourselves about self-improvement. Anyone who has ever made a New Year's resolution probably included something like get more sleep or be less stressed. And though it might not immediately come to mind when you brainstorm strategies for reaching your New Year's goals, it turns out that chamomile tea could be the answer for many of them. </p><p>If you've ever asked yourself why everyone is drinking chamomile tea, we've got the answer here. Read on to learn some of the reasons why this herbal beverage is all the rage.</p>
<p><em>Josh Hall has been a professional writer and storyteller for more than 15 years. His work on natural health and cannabis has appeared in Health, Shape, and Remedy Review.</em></p>
Benefits of Chamomile Tea
<p><strong>Sleep More Soundly</strong></p><p>Pick your grandmother's brain about the best way to fall asleep, and she might tell you to down a nice glass of warm milk. But if you consult with science, research shows that chamomile might be a better option. That's because it contains an antioxidant called apigenin, which can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995283/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">promote sleepiness and reduce insomnia and other sleep problems</a>.</p><p>Two research studies even confirmed the power of chamomile throughout the day and before bed. In one of those studies, postpartum women who drank chamomile for two weeks <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26483209" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">experienced better sleep quality than the control group who didn't</a>. Another research effort measured how fast people could fall asleep. Those results illustrated that participants who consumed 270 milligrams of chamomile extract twice daily for 28 days <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198755/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fell asleep 15 minutes faster than the control</a>. The chamomile group also had considerably fewer sleep disruptions. </p><p><strong>May Be Able to Keep Your Gut Healthy</strong></p><p>Though the following studies used rats as the subjects, research shows that chamomile can potentially play a beneficial role in digestive health. According to that research, the anti-inflammatory properties in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24463157" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">chamomile extract may be able to protect against diarrhea</a>. Additionally, chamomile may be an effective way to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4177631/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stop the growth of bacteria in our stomachs that contribute to ulcers</a>.</p><p><strong>Reduces Stress and Anxiety</strong></p><p>Few things are more relaxing than curling up with a good cup of tea, so it's logical that chamomile tea can serve a stress reducer. While it lacks the potency of a pharmaceutical drug, long-term use of chamomile has been shown to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27912875" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">"significantly" reduce general anxiety disorders</a>. In general, chamomile can act almost like a sedative, and many people enjoy the tea because it puts them in a calm and relaxed state almost immediately. </p><p><strong>Boosts Immune Health</strong></p><p>Vitamin C and zinc are common over-the-counter supplements that people often turn to when they're hoping to avoid becoming sick. While scientists admit that more research must take place to prove chamomile's impact on preventing ailments like the common cold, the existing studies do show promise in this area. </p><p>One study had 14 participants drink five cups of the tea every day for two consecutive weeks. Throughout the study, researchers collected daily urine samples and tested the contents before and after the consumption of the tea. Drinking chamomile resulted in a significant increase in the levels of hippurate and glycine, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995283/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">both of which are known to increase antibacterial activity</a>. Inhaling steam from a pot of freshly brewed chamomile tea may also ease the symptoms of nasal congestion.</p><p><strong>Minimizes Menstrual Cramps</strong></p><p>This one may come as a surprise, particularly to readers who have tried every possible over-the-counter treatment to reduce period pain. Several research studies have proven that chamomile tea may be able to minimize the pain and cramps that occur during menstruation. Women in that same study also dealt with lower levels of anxiety that they typically felt because of menstrual cramps.</p><p><strong>Help Diabetes and Lower Blood Sugar</strong></p><p>For people with diabetes, regulating blood sugar levels can be a matter of life or death. And while chamomile will never replace prescription-strength drugs, it's believed that it can prevent an increase in blood sugar. A 2008 study on rats showed that chamomile could have a <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf8014365" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">moderate impact on the long-term risk of diabetes</a>.</p><p><strong>Might Improve Your Skin</strong></p><p>Ever wondered why there's been an influx of chamomile-infused cosmetic products? The reason why so many manufacturers now include chamomile in their lotions, soaps, and creams is because it <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5074766/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">acts as an anti-inflammatory on our skin</a>. That means it may be able to soothe the puffiness that plagues us as we age. Those same anti-inflammatory properties can be vital in restoring skin health after we've received a sunburn. </p><p>Before discarding your used chamomile tea bags, try chilling them and placing them over your eyes. Not only will this help with the puffiness, but it can drastically light the skin color around the eye.</p><p><strong>Help With Heart Health</strong></p><p>Some of the most beneficial antioxidants we put into our bodies are what are known as flavones, and chamomile tea is chock full of them. Flavones have the potential to lower both blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which, when elevated, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4814348/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">can lead to heart disease</a>.</p>Why Everyone Is Drinking Chamomile Tea
<p>Now that you know so much about the wonders of chamomile, it shouldn't come as a surprise why the tea is so popular with people of all ages. In addition to tasting great, chamomile offers up benefits that boost the health of body parts both inside and out. As you ponder your own New Year's resolutions, think about how healthy and natural vitamins, supplements, plants, and oils can help guide you on your own personal path to improvement. Happy New Year!</p>An Organic, Eco-Conscious Brand to Try
<div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="0da9d8545ec44ebf1a31d6044181ed9e" contenteditable="false"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N2F8718?tag=ecowatch-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank"> <img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41B2ANHhsdL.jpg" class="amazon-assets-widget__image widget__image"> </a> </div> <p>FGO tea bags are made of hemp fiber paper, free of dyes, adhesive, glue, and chlorine bleach. The tea is also certified USDA Organic by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).</p>From Your Site Articles
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Seabirds often follow fishing vessels to find easy meals. Alexander Petrov / TASS via Getty Images
By Jim Palardy
As 2021 dawns, people, ecosystems, and wildlife worldwide are facing a panoply of environmental issues. In an effort to help experts and policymakers determine where they might focus research, a panel of 25 scientists and practitioners — including me — from around the globe held discussions in the fall to identify emerging issues that deserve increased attention.
<p>The panel, coordinated by the UK-based Cambridge Conservation Initiative, conducted a horizon scan — an effort to spot early signs of significant phenomena — of global biological <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> issues. For <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(20)30306-2?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0169534720303062%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the resulting study</a>, which was funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the panel winnowed down an initial list of 97 topics, settling on the following 15 because of their novelty or their potential to move the conservation needle in either a positive or negative direction over the coming decade.</p>
<h2>1. Seabirds Could Help Spot Illegal Fishing</h2><p>Seabirds often follow fishing vessels to score easy meals. Now, scientists are hoping to exploit this behavior to help spot illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, which accounts for up to $23.5 billion worth of seafood every year, or 1 in 5 fish sold. Researchers have had some success attaching transmitters to seabirds to locate fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean, but more study is needed to validate the use of this tactic.</p>
<h2>2. Marine Vessels and GPS Spoofing</h2><p>Vessels plying the ocean navigate and transmit their locations and identities mainly through the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and automatic identification system (AIS). The panel points out that a recent rise in GNSS spoofing and AIS cloning incidents could facilitate the trade of illegal goods and hamper authorities' efforts to identify vessels engaged in illicit resource extraction activities such as fishing and dredging.</p>
<h2>3. More Corals May Suffer From Lack of Oxygen<br></h2><p>Several factors — including climate-driven marine heat waves and nutrient runoff from land — can lower oxygen levels in the ocean. Corals in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans have died from this hypoxia, and, although those events weren't widespread, some scientists fear that the threat may grow significantly as climate change further warms the ocean. Research is needed to better understand the extent and impact of low oxygen conditions on coral reefs.</p>
<h2>4. Understanding the Impacts of Increased Dissolved Iron on Coastal Polar Ecosystems</h2><p>Coastal zones in polar latitudes are among Earth's most productive — that is, they create and support large numbers of organisms ranging from tiny marine plants to animals such as polar bears and seals — a characteristic driven by the availability of dissolved iron from glaciers and ice. Increased melting in the polar regions will result in higher iron concentrations, which in turn will probably fuel more intense phytoplankton blooms and enable organisms on the seafloor to capture more carbon and other nutrients. Such changes could have wide-ranging effects — including impacts on the structure of the region's marine ecosystems and on carbon sequestration — and warrants investigation.</p>
<h2>5. What to Do With a Growing Number of Decommissioned Offshore Energy Platforms</h2><p>It is estimated that 3,000 offshore oil and gas platforms will be decommissioned in the coming decades and that the number of offshore wind farms will continue to grow. Currently, decommissioning practices vary by country and include full removal, conversion of platforms to artificial reefs, and abandonment. As new offshore energy infrastructure is built and old platforms are phased out, nations will need to evaluate the immediate and long-term impacts of their decommissioning strategies on the marine environment.</p>
<h2>6. A Drug Problem in the Water<br></h2><p>When some chemicals used in pharmaceuticals and in garden and farm products are introduced into waterways — usually through runoff or via sewage systems directly or in human waste — they can cause changes in fish and other organisms, including altering the number of female to males in a population, lower fertility, and deformities. There is emerging evidence that the effects of exposure can be multigenerational, affecting organisms that were never directly exposed.</p>
<h2>7. Changes in Low Cloud Cover</h2><p>Low clouds shade sizable portions of the planet in subtropical regions. It is predicted that these clouds will become increasingly unstable if atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to rise at current rates. The resulting changes could have negative effects on wildlife and human communities.</p>
<h2>8. Tree Planting as a Simple Carbon Sequestration Solution</h2><p>Pledges to plant large areas of trees to help tackle climate change are often perceived as a win for conservation. However, tree planting must be planned and implemented with a clear understanding of regional ecosystems to avoid negative effects on biological diversity.</p>
<h2>9. Logging to Reduce Fire Risk</h2><p>As nations around the world contend with more extreme wildfires, some policymakers suggest that tree removal may be part of the solution. However, the effectiveness of such policies is uncertain, and any short-term gains from removing trees are often offset by the growth of non-native grasses and flowering plants, which may themselves be highly flammable.</p>
<h2>10. Large-Scale Adoption of Sustainable Farming Techniques Across India</h2><p>Driven by government policies and local innovations, sustainable farming practices are becoming more prevalent in India. The state government of Sikkim has adopted organic farming as policy, and the state of Andhra Pradesh, with 6 million farmers, plans to adopt natural farming practices by 2025. Other states across the country plan to follow suit. Early evaluations indicate that these large-scale transitions boost crop yields and incomes, improve the health of farmers, and increase women's access to microfinance. With such results, there is the potential for similar large-scale shifts in other parts of the world.</p>
<h2>11. Low Earth-Orbiting Satellites May Mislead Animals Responding to Celestial Cues</h2><p>More than 2,600 artificial satellites currently orbit the earth, a number that is rapidly increasing. Many species of mammals, insects, and birds use celestial cues to migrate long distances and to orient themselves in local habitats and could be affected by the proliferation of satellites.</p>
<h2>12. Bitcoin Mining With Stranded Energy</h2><p>An emerging use for stranded energy sources, such as low-value methane byproducts vented from oil wells and excess energy produced by wind turbines and solar panels, is to power computers used for Bitcoin mining — the process of creating new Bitcoin by solving complex algorithms. Monetizing stranded energy in this way is a mixed bag that decision-makers will probably have to evaluate. The practice could increase carbon emissions from marginal fossil fuel sources but also could incentivize the deployment of renewable energy by guaranteeing a minimum selling price.</p>
<h2>13. Open-Source Investigations of Environmental Threats</h2><p>Scientists demonstrated some success with using online videos, social media posts, and other open-source data to document the effects of the locust swarms in East Africa in 2020. As faster internet connections and access to smartphones continue to grow globally, the use of open-source data may become an effective tool for researchers.</p>
<h2>14. Self-Healing Building Materials</h2><p>The potential to engineer building materials made of chemicals, polymers, and bacteria that can fix themselves when damaged could reduce the need for repairs and shrink the environmental footprints of construction projects. Recently, scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder used a type of cyanobacteria found in the ocean, along with other materials, to <a href="https://www.cell.com/matter/pdfExtended/S2590-2385(19)30391-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">engineer a living building material</a> that can regenerate when fractured.</p>
<h2>15. A Waterway to Connect the Baltic and Black Seas</h2><p>A planned 1,200-mile inland navigable waterway connecting the Baltic and Black seas would alter the flow of cargo and trade in the region. However, the waterway, which would pass through Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine, could alter habitat in 70 wildlife areas and numerous international conservation areas, introduce non-native species, and change the region's rivers and wetlands. Additionally, dredging in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone could disrupt radioactive sediment.</p>
<p><em>Jim Palardy is a project director with The Pew Charitable Trusts' conservation science program. He served on this year's horizon scan panel and is a co-author on the resulting study.</em><br/></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2021/01/13/top-15-conservation-issues-of-2021-include-big-threats-and-potential-bright-spots" target="_blank">The Pew Charitable Trust</a>.</em></p>
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NOAA Names 2020 Second-Hottest Year on Record; NASA Says It Tied for Hottest Ever
15 January
Climate
Wildfires within the Arctic Circle in Alaska on June 4, 2020. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data processed by Pierre Markuse. CC BY 2.0
By Jeff Masters, Ph.D.
Earth had its second-warmest year on record in 2020, just 0.02 degrees Celsius (0.04°F) behind the record set in 2016, and 0.98 degrees Celsius (1.76°F) above the 20th-century average, NOAA reported January 14.
<p><a href="https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/tabledata_v4/GLB.Ts+dSST.txt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NASA</a> and the <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-global-november-temperatures-reached-record-high-while-europe-experienced-its-warmest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">European Copernicus Climate Change Service</a> rated 2020 as tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record (NASA rates the margin of error at .05 degrees C); the <a href="https://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/products/gwp/temp/nov_wld.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Japan Meteorological Agency</a> rated 2020 as the warmest year on record. Minor differences in rankings often occur among various research groups, the result of different ways they handle data-sparse regions such as the Arctic.</p>
<p>Global ocean temperatures in 2020 were the third-warmest on record, global land temperatures the warmest on record. Global satellite-measured temperatures in 2020 for the lowest eight kilometers of the atmosphere were the second-warmest or warmest in the 42-year record, according to the University of Alabama, Huntsville and Remote Sensing Solutions, respectively.</p><p>The Northern Hemisphere had its warmest year on record in 2020 and the Southern Hemisphere its fifth-warmest. By continent, here are the 2020 temperature rankings:</p><p>Europe: first warmest<br>Asia: first warmest<br>South America: second warmest<br>Africa: fourth warmest<br>Australia (and Oceania): fourth warmest<br>North America: 10th warmest</p><p>As detailed in a January 12 post at <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/01/hurricanes-wildfires-and-heat-dominated-u-s-weather-in-2020/" target="_blank">this site</a> by Bob Henson, 2020 for the U.S. was the fifth-warmest year in history going back to 1895. Ten states had their second-warmest year on record and four had their third-warmest year. None of the contiguous 48 states was below-average in temperature in 2020.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1OTQ5OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzIwNDk3M30.go-eShbJt_FePHwnZhlSFiknsgGrSy-EsznNYrynmio/img.png?width=980" id="b8e38" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a4933e877b2e372b62762614d4ee7d9b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="974" data-height="717" />
Figure 1. Departure of temperature from average for 2020, the second-warmest year the globe has seen since record-keeping began in 1880, according to NOAA. Record-high annual temperatures over land and ocean surfaces were measured across parts of Europe, Asia, southern North America, South America, and across parts of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. No land or ocean areas were record cold for the year. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
<p>The remarkable global warmth of 2020 means that the seven warmest years on record since 1880 were the most recent seven years — 2014 through 2020. The near-record global warmth in 2020 is all the more striking since it occurred during the minimum of the weakest solar cycle in more than 100 years and during a year without a strong El Niño. Record-warm global temperatures typically occur during strong El Niño events and when the solar cycle is near its maximum. The warmth of 2020 is a testament to how significantly human-caused global warming is heating the planet.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1OTUwNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDkwMTY0M30.G7_nUNl5YT4mDUvTPkRi1wiNcE7RYgJYwuK6dhYJles/img.jpg?width=980" id="6744d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f4a37c32117691ae2b858335bfc11d3a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="974" data-height="496" />
Figure 2. Total ocean heat content (OHC) in the top 2000 meters from 1958-2020. Cheng et al., Upper Ocean Temperatures Hit Record High in 2020, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences
<h4>Warmest Year on Record for Total Ocean Heat Content</h4><p>Despite the presence of a prominent La Niña event that began in August, the total heat content of the world's oceans in 2020 was the warmest in recorded human history, according to a January 13, 2021 paper by Cheng <em>et al.</em>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00376-021-0447-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Upper Ocean Temperatures Hit Record High in 2020</a>, published in <em>Advances in Atmospheric Sciences</em>. In the uppermost 2,000 meters of the oceans, there were 211 to 234 zettajoules more heat in 2020 than the 1981-2010 average, and 2020 had 1 to 20 zettajoules more ocean heat content than in 2019 (a zettajoule is one sextillion joules — ten to the 21st power). For comparison, in 2010, humans <a href="https://twitter.com/johncarlosbaez/status/1216783686957297672?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">used</a> a total of 0.5 zettajoules of energy.</p><p>More than 90% of the increasing heat from human-caused global warming accumulates in the ocean because of its large heat capacity. The remaining heating manifests as atmospheric warming, a drying and warming landmass, and melting land and sea ice. Increasing ocean heat content causes sea-level rise through thermal expansion of the water and melting of glaciers in contact with the ocean. It also produces stronger and more rapidly intensifying hurricanes; causes more intense precipitation events that can lead to destructive flooding; contributes to "marine heat waves" that damage or destroy coral reefs; and disrupts atmospheric circulation patterns.</p>
<h4>A Slew of Heat Records in 2020</h4><p>International records researcher <a href="https://twitter.com/extremetemps" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maximiliano Herrera</a> keeps the pulse of the planet in remarkable detail, and he logged 11 nations or territories that set or tied their all-time heat records in 2020. That total fell far short of the record of 24 such records in 2019. No nations or territories set or tied an all-time cold record in 2020. Here are the all-time heat records set in 2020:</p><p>Colombia: 42.6°C (108.7°F) at Jerusalem, February 19 (tie);<br>Ghana: 44.0°C (111.2°F) at Navrongo, April 6;<br>Cuba: 39.2°C (102.6°F) at Palo Seco, April 10; broken again April 11 with 39.3°C (102.7°F) at Veguitas, and again on April 12 with 39.7°C (103.5°F) at Veguitas;<br>Mayotte, France department: 36.4°C (97.5°F) at Trevani, April 14;<br>Taiwan: 40.5°C (104.9°F) at Taimali Research Center, July 16;<br>Lebanon: 45.4°C (113.7°F) at Houche Al Oumara, July 27;<br>United States: 54.4°C (129.9°F) at Death Valley, California, August 16;<br>Japan: 41.1°C (106.0°F) at Hamamatsu, August 17;<br>Dominica: 35.7°C (96.3°F) at Canefield Airport, September 15;<br>Puerto Rico (U.S. territory): 37.8°C (100.0°F ) at Aguirre, September 17; and<br>Paraguay: 45.5°C (113.9°F ) at Pozo Hondo, September 26.</p><p>Among global weather stations having at least 40 years of record-keeping, Herrera documented 348 that exceeded their all-time heat record in 2020; only eight stations with a long-term period of record set an all-time cold record in 2020. For comparison, 632 stations set their all-time heat record in 2019 and 11 their all-time cold record.</p>
<h4>Notable Global Heat and Cold Records for 2020</h4><p>Hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 54.4°C (129.9°F) at Death Valley, U.S., August 16;<br>Coldest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: -66.0°C (-86.8°F) at Summit, Greenland, January 2;<br>Hottest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 48.9°C (120.0°F) at Penrith Lakes, Australia, January 4;<br>Coldest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: -80.8°C (-113.4°F) at Dome Fuji, Antarctica, August 16;<br>Highest 2020 average temperature worldwide: 31.5°C (88.7°F) at Yelimane, Mali, and Matam, Senegal; and<br>Highest 2020 average temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 29.8°C (85.6°F) at Surabaya Airport, Indonesia, and Wyndham, Australia.</p><p>Earth's record for hottest yearly average temperature was 32.9°C (91.2°F) at Makkah, Saudi Arabia, in 2010 and 2016.</p>
<h4>126 Additional Monthly National/Territorial Heat Records Beaten or Tied</h4><p>In addition to the 11 all-time national heat records, 126 other national monthly heat records were set in 2020, for a total of 137 national monthly heat records:</p><p>– January (13): Norway, South Korea, Angola, Congo Brazzaville, Dominica, Mexico, Indonesia, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Sao Tome and Principe, Cuba, British Indian Ocean Territory, Singapore;<br>– February (12): Spain, Antarctica, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, The Bahamas, Switzerland, Maldives, Gambia, Russia, Seychelles, Dominican Republic, U.S. Virgin Islands;<br>– March (7): Paraguay, Cabo Verde, Mozambique, Seychelles, United States, Thailand, Northern Mariana Islands;<br>– April (14): Paraguay, Niger, St. Barthelemy, Honduras, Guernsey, Haiti, Congo Brazzaville, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, China, Saba, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic;<br>– May (10): Niger, Greece, Saba, Cyprus, Solomon Islands, Turkey, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Chile, Uzbekistan;<br>– June (6): Maldives, Thailand, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saba, Kenya, Ghana;<br>– July (7): Mozambique, U.S. Virgin Islands, Laos, Myanmar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Northern Mariana Islands;<br>– August (6): Solomon Islands, Mexico, Australia, Cocos Islands, Paraguay, U.S. Virgin Islands;<br>– September (18): Laos, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Mexico, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Botswana, St. Barthelemy, Mayotte, Argentina, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory;<br>– October (11): Algeria, Brazil, Tunisia, Turkey, Cyprus, Jordan, Peru, Myanmar, Northern Marianas Islands, Botswana, Maldives;<br>– November (11): Luxembourg, Finland, Nepal, Mexico, Aland Islands, Sweden, Maldives, Northern Marianas, Taiwan, Swaziland, Sudan; and<br>– December (11): Mexico, Ghana, Pakistan, Algeria, Qatar, Maldives, Niger, Taiwan, Dominica, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands.</p>
<h4>One Monthly National/Territorial Cold Record Beaten or Tied in 2020</h4><p>– April: St. Eustatius.<br></p><p>An October monthly record reported in Aruba was judged to be unreliable.</p>
<h4>Hemispherical and Continental Temperature Records in 2020</h4><p>– Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere in January: 29.1°C (84.4°F) at Bonriki, Kiribati, January 17;<br>– Highest maximum temperature ever recorded in North America in January: 42.0°C (107.6°F) at Vicente Guerrero, Mexico, January 21;<br>– Highest temperature ever recorded in continental Antarctica and highest February temperature ever recorded in Antarctica plus the surrounding islands: 18.4°C (65.1°F) at Base Esperanza, February 6;<br>– Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in February in Antarctica: 7.6°C (45.7°F) at Base Marambio, February 9;<br>– Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in February in the Northern Hemisphere: 32.0°C (89.6°F) at Yelimane, Mali, February 23;<br>– Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in April in the Southern Hemisphere: 31.1°C (88.0°F) at Argyle, Australia, April 2;<br>– Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in May in Europe: 30.1°C (86.2°F) at Emponas, Greece, May 17;<br>– Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in May in North America: 35.0°C (95.0°F) at Death Valley, California (U.S.), May 28;<br>– Highest temperature ever recorded in the polar regions: 38.0°C (100.4°F) at Verkhoyansk, Russia, June 20;<br>– Highest reliable temperature ever recorded on Earth: 54.4°C (129.9°F) at Death Valley, California, August 16;<br>– Highest reliable minimum temperature ever recorded in August in North America: 40.0°C (104.0°F) at Death Valley, California (U.S.), August 17;<br>– Highest temperature ever recorded in Australia and Oceana in August: 40.7°C (105.3°F) at Yampi Sound, Australia, August 22; beaten again with 41.2°C (106.2°F) at West Roebuck, Australia, on August 23; and<br>– Highest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere in November: 44.8°C (112.6°F) at San Francisco and Tubares, Mexico, November 5.</p>
<h4>December 2020: Earth's Eighth-Warmest December on Record</h4><p>December 2020 was the eighth-warmest December since global record-keeping began in 1880, NOAA's <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/202007" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Centers for Environmental Information</a> reported January 14. NASA and the <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/monthly-climate-bulletins" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">European Copernicus Climate Change Service</a> rated the month as the sixth-warmest December on record, and the <a href="https://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/products/gwp/temp/nov_wld.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Japan Meteorological Agency</a> rated it as the tenth-warmest. Again: Minor differences in rankings often occur among various research groups, the result of different ways they handle data-sparse regions such as the Arctic.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1OTU2OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTk0NDM2Nn0.3r2cwf3HoC4VpfY55HWUNmWLkkQbi7P1FFJaKRd9sso/img.png?width=980" id="90900" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cb409e32a162eab1ecacd24986b35566" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="768" data-height="384" />
Figure 3. Departure of sea surface temperature from average in the benchmark Niño 3.4 region of the eastern tropical Pacific (5°N-5°S, 170°W-120°W). Sea surface temperature were approximately one degree Celsius below average over the past month, characteristic of moderate La Niña conditions. Tropical Tidbits
<h4>A Moderate La Niña Event Continues</h4><p>La Niña conditions remained in the moderate range during December and early January, prompting NOAA to continue its <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Niña</a> advisory in a January 14 <a href="https://iri.columbia.edu/our-expertise/climate/forecasts/enso/current/?enso_tab=enso-cpc_update" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">monthly discussion</a> of the state of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, or ENSO.</p><p>Over the past month, sea surface temperatures in the benchmark Niño 3.4 region of the eastern tropical Pacific (5°N-5°S, 170°W-120°W) have been approximately 1 degree Celsius below average. The threshold for "strong" La Niña conditions is 1.5 degrees Celsius below average; "moderate" La Niña conditions are 1.0-1.5 degrees below average.</p><p>Forecasters at NOAA and at Columbia University's International Research Institute for Climate and Society <a href="https://iri.columbia.edu/our-expertise/climate/forecasts/enso/current/?enso_tab=enso-cpc_plume" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expect La Niña conditions</a> will continue through the winter (95% chance during January-February-March), and potentially transition to "neutral" during the spring (55% chance during April-May-June). About half of all La Niña events continue into a second year, but fewer than 20% of the ENSO models predicted that La Niña conditions would last into the summer of 2021.</p>
<h4>Arctic Sea Ice: Third-Lowest December Extent on Record</h4><p>Arctic sea ice extent during December 2020 was the third-lowest in the 42-year satellite record, behind 2016 and 2017, according to the <a href="http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Snow and Ice Data Center</a>. <a href="https://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Antarctic sea ice extent</a> in December 2020 was near-average.</p>
<h4>Notable Global Heat and Cold Marks for December 2020</h4><p>– Hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 41.5°C (106.7°F) at Matam, Senegal, December 2;<br>– Coldest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: -57.5°C (-71.5°F) at Oymykon, Russia, December 29;<br>– Hottest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 48.7°C (119.7°F) at Birdsville, Australia, December 5; and<br>– Coldest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: -44.9°C (-48.8°F) at Dome A, Antarctica, December 3.</p>
<h4>Major Weather Stations' New All-Time Heat or Cold Records in December 2020</h4><p>Among global stations with a record of at least 40 years, two stations set all-time cold records in December, and no stations set an all-time heat record:</p><p>Hamamasu (Japan) min. -21.5°C (-6.7°F), December 31; and<br>Bibai (Japan) min. -26.5°C (-15.7°F), December 31.<br></p><p><em>Statistics courtesy of <a href="http://www.mherrera.org/temp.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maximiliano Herrera</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/01/noaa-names-2020-second-hottest-year-on-record-nasa-says-it-tied-for-hottest-ever/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- NASA and NOAA: Last Decade Was the Hottest on Record - EcoWatch ›
- Earth Just Had Its Hottest September Ever Recorded, NOAA Says ... ›
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Commuters make their way through a flooded street after heavy monsoon rains in Dhaka, Bangladesh on July 21, 2020. Munir Uz Zaman / Getty Images
By Ajit Niranjan
World leaders and businesses are not putting enough money into adapting to dangerous changes in the climate and must "urgently step up action," according to a report published Thursday by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
<p>Last year was the joint-hottest year on record and disasters struck every continent. Smoke-belching wildfires burned through communities from Australia to the Arctic. <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-storms-cyclones-hurricanes-typhoons-explained/a-55521226" target="_blank">Extreme storms</a> battered coastal cities from the Philippines to Nicaragua, while floods put a third of Bangladesh underwater and covered entire villages in Nigeria.</p><p>Extreme weather and climate-related disasters have killed more than 410,000 people in the past 10 years, almost all of them in poorer countries, according to the <a href="https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/20201116_WorldDisasters_Full.pdf" target="_blank">International Federation of the Red Cross and Crescent.</a></p><p>"The hard truth is that climate change is upon us," said UNEP Executive Director <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-we-are-close-to-the-point-of-no-return/a-56122609" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Inger Andersen</a>, in the foreword to the report. "Its impacts will intensify, even if we limit global warming. We cannot afford to lose the race to adaptation."</p>
Adaptation Has a Long Way to Go
<p>The Adaptation Gap Report, now in its 5th year, finds "huge gaps" between what world leaders agreed to do under the 2015 <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/5-years-paris-climate-agreement/a-55901139" target="_blank">Paris Agreement</a> and what they need to do to keep their citizens safe from climate change.</p><p>A review by the Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative of almost 1,700 examples of climate adaptation found that a third were in the early stages of implementation — and only 3% had reached the point of reducing risks.</p><p>Disasters like storms and droughts have grown stronger than they should be because people have warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels and chopping down rainforests. The world has heated by more than 1.1 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution and is on track to warm by about 3°C by the end of the century.</p><p>If world leaders <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-change-performance-index-how-far-have-we-come/a-55846406" target="_blank">deliver on recent pledges</a> to bring emissions to <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/joe-bidens-climate-pledges-are-they-realistic/a-56173821" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">net-zero</a> by the middle of the century, they could almost limit warming to 2°C. The target of the Paris Agreement, however, is to reach a target well below that — ideally 1.5°C. </p><p>There are two ways, scientists say, to lessen the pain that warming will bring: mitigating climate change by cutting carbon pollution and adapting to the hotter, less stable world it brings.</p>The Cost of Climate Adaptation
<p>About three-quarters of the world's countries have national plans to adapt to climate change, according to the report, but most lack the regulations, incentives and funding to make them work.</p><p>More than a decade ago, rich countries most responsible for climate change pledged to mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020 in climate finance for poorer countries. UNEP says it is "impossible to answer" whether that goal has been met, while an OECD study published in November found that between 2013 and 2018, the target sum had not once been achieved. Even in 2018, which recorded the highest level of contributions, rich countries were still $20 billion short.</p><p>The yearly adaptation costs for developing countries alone are estimated at $70 billion. This figure is expected to at least double by the end of the decade as temperatures rise, and will hit $280-500 billion by 2050, according to the report.</p><p>But failing to adapt is even more expensive.</p><p>When powerful storms like cyclones Fani and Bulbul struck South Asia, early-warning systems allowed governments to move millions of people out of danger at short notice. Storms of similar strength that have hit East Africa, like <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/zimbabwe-after-cyclone-idai-building-climate-friendly-practices/a-54251885" target="_blank">cyclones Idai</a> and Kenneth, have proved more deadly because fewer people were evacuated before disaster struck.</p><p>The Global Commission on Adaptation estimated in 2019 that a $1.8 trillion investment in early warning systems, buildings, agriculture, mangroves and water resources could reap $7.1 trillion in benefits from economic activity and avoided costs when disasters strike.</p>Exploring Nature-Based Solutions
<p>The report also highlights how restoring nature can protect people from climate change while benefiting local communities and ecology.</p><p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-fires-risk-climate-change-bushfires-australia-california-extreme-weather-firefighters/a-54817927" target="_blank">Wildfires</a>, for instance, could be made less punishing by restoring grasslands and regularly burning the land in controlled settings. Indigenous communities from Australia to Canada have done this for millennia in a way that encourages plant growth while reducing the risk of uncontrolled wildfires. Reforestation, meanwhile, can stop soil erosion and flooding during heavy rainfall while trapping carbon and protecting wildlife.</p><p>In countries like Brazil and Malaysia, governments could better protect coastal homes from floods and storms by restoring <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/mudflats-mangroves-and-marshes-the-great-coastal-protectors/a-50628747" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mangroves</a> — tangled trees that grow in tropical swamps. As well as anchoring sediments and absorbing the crash of waves, mangroves can store carbon, help fish populations grow and boost local economies through tourism. </p><p>While nature-based solutions are often cheaper than building hard infrastructure, their funding makes up a "tiny fraction" of adaptation finance, the report authors wrote. An analysis of four global climate funds that spent $94 billion on adaptation projects found that just $12 billion went to nature-based solutions and little of this was spent implementing projects on the ground.</p><p>But little is known about their long-term effectiveness. At higher temperatures, the effects of climate change may be so great that they overwhelm natural defenses like mangroves.</p><p>By 2050, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/rising-sea-levels-should-we-let-the-ocean-in-a-50704953/a-50704953" target="_blank">coastal floods</a> that used to hit once a century will strike many cities every year, according to a 2019 report on oceans by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the gold standard on climate science. This could force dense cities on low-lying coasts to build higher sea walls, like in Indonesia and South Korea, or evacuate entire communities from sinking islands, like in Fiji.</p><p>It's not a case of replacing infrastructure, said Matthias Garschagen, a geographer at Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany and IPCC author, who was not involved in the UNEP report. "The case for nature-based solutions is often misinterpreted as a battle... but they're part of a toolkit that we've ignored for too long."</p>From Your Site Articles
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The Charley Fire northeast of Phoenix, Arizona was started by a lightning strike in 2012. Nic Leister / Moment / Getty Images
As the planet's temperature warms, the frequency of lightning strikes is expected to grow with it, Environmental Journal reported.
<p>Currently, lightning strikes the earth's surface nearly eight million times a day. This number is expected to dramatically increase as global temperatures rise, according to a <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/346/6211/851.abstract" target="_blank">study published by Science</a>. The U.S., for example, could experience a 50 percent increase in the number of lightning strikes by the end of the century, if greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed.</p><p>"The distribution of lightning is directly linked to the Earth's climate," Nathan Neal, a marketing director at Biral, <a href="https://environmentjournal.online/articles/the-future-is-not-forecast-how-lightning-is-affected-by-climate-change/" target="_blank">wrote</a>. "The daily and seasonal heating of the continental landmasses results in large temperature fluctuations, which influences atmospheric stability and the development of thunderstorms."</p>
<p>But lightning is more than just a symptom of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>. It also directly impacts the global climate, <a href="https://eos.org/science-updates/lightning-a-new-essential-climate-variable" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eos reported</a>. When lightning strikes, it produces nitrogen oxides, a strong greenhouse gas.</p><p>In the fastest-warming part of the planet, the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic">Arctic</a> has reported an increase in lightning over the past decade. A<a href="https://www.essoar.org/doi/10.1002/essoar.10504658.1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> recent study suggests</a> that the number of annual summertime lightning strikes above a latitude of 65° North rose from around 35,000 in 2010 to nearly 250,000 in 2020, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03561-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nature reported</a>.</p><p>These results are a "symptom of global climate change," Robert Holzworth, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Washington in Seattle and leader of the study, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03561-1" target="_blank">said</a> in reference to the Arctic's two-year record for the largest area of land burnt by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires">wildfires</a>, some of which were ignited by lightning.</p>
<p>The Arctic is not alone in experiencing an increase in lightning strikes and resulting wildfires.</p><p>In August, 20,203 lightning strikes were recorded in California within just four days. Part of what CalFire called the "fire siege," the four-day event recorded more than half of the month's typical lightning total. More than 700 new wildfires followed, burning an area larger than the state of Delaware, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/28/heres-how-californias-worst-ever-wildfire-siege-occurred/?arc404=true" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>.</p>
<p>So, how will the increase of lightning strikes cause future climate damage?</p><p>Unfortunately, monitoring lightning for climate science remains limited, <a href="https://environmentjournal.online/articles/the-future-is-not-forecast-how-lightning-is-affected-by-climate-change/" target="_blank">Nathan Neal wrote</a>.</p><p>"But it must not be forgotten that lightning is hazardous; it can strike and kill people, trigger potentially devastating wildfires, play a part in destructive floods and in the case of the U.S. can lead to the creation of tornados," he added.</p>
<p>Lightning, in relation to wildfires, is also an uncommon topic in public discourse, John Abatzoglou, an associate professor in management of complex systems at the University of California, Merced, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/23/climate/west-lightning-wildfires.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20U.S.%20Forest,the%20most%20recent%20data%20available" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told The New York Times</a>. "We want to personify these fires. We want to blame somebody. But lightning doesn't have a face," he said.</p><p>Regardless of how climate change will impact lightning frequency, the resulting impacts of lightning strikes will grow more severe as the planet grows warmer and drier.</p><p>"Even if there were no changes in lightning frequency, the impact of warmer and drier conditions associated with climate change help make lightning more effective at igniting wildfires," Nina S. Oakley, a research scientist at the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/23/climate/west-lightning-wildfires.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20U.S.%20Forest,the%20most%20recent%20data%20available" target="_blank">told The New York Times.</a> "With drier vegetation, there is a greater likelihood of a lightning strike igniting a fire, and greater opportunity for that fire to grow."</p>
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A person surveys the aftermath of Hurricane Sally on September 16, 2020 in Pensacola, Florida. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
A record-smashing 22 weather disasters inflicted at least $1billion of damage on the U.S. in 2020, according to NOAA, as the toll of human-caused climate change mounts in real time.
<p>The 22 disasters blew away the previous record of 16, killed 262 people, and inflicted $95 billion in damages in 2020, which European scientists say is tied for the hottest year on record. </p><p>Climate change, caused by burning fossil fuels, makes wildfires more extreme, hurricanes more intense and intensify more quickly, and extreme rainfall more severe as warmer air holds more moisture that can then be dumped in overwhelming volumes. </p><p>The fact that more people are living in areas vulnerable to climate disasters also contributed to the record number of billion-dollar events. </p><p>Weather disasters ravaged areas across the Lower 48 states, as wildfires incinerated more than 10 million acres across the West, thunderstorms deluged the Midwest, and hurricanes repeatedly pummeled the Gulf Coast.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p>Disasters: <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/weather/billion-dollar-us-disasters-2020-noaa-climate/index.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_A4TmzPUgpDqIKMplTCNLSwock-VCo-EPMaIbT_2DdRccDmE0dsdItNYj891S_ChzIXmXX3q3ETFhKNTPnfCEgj3x_1PQNf01vrukBayfsqg3iNms&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">CNN</a>, <a href="https://login.politicopro.com/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscriber.politicopro.com%2Farticle%2F2021%2F01%2Fnoaa-us-suffered-record-number-of-major-climate-events-in-2020-3986236%3Futm_campaign%3DHot%2520News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--m05mgaWGPUKgHewpx0Ajo-k6nYKCKnsNl4MnG72265YaYr6tCvXQuDAYgcL3vQ1fnbz5cAoJ6L7bErBxMltu3WU3JUjZmIwUR0Yqt1nu3CxGzIww&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Politico Pro</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/08/us-2020-record-year-climate-disasters-wildfires-hurricanes?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8xO35cec3_ODvPHfl2EgTUOVcEoCMK1rMmRFSz8LE_voP495aCb4dg5WLWDHLukxc3isJUaQ4IXiLiNabdx-x7KrIbliXt6a9naBW9p7vlNn1ZTQc&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2021/01/08/stories/1063722053?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-83bBOqfg7rBbqfKzN_ej6CBsayOSgHP7eu8tzPMPdNTMf52ESTORJtdvvY6aSwSDb9LvMJ1a74zTYOKPe7WQt1orKyddOhntMlg3gYkwiZYohw8to&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/533366-record-broken-for-number-of-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Pij0koL7NKE9S-Q0YtmrGaMWWK9A0262uUYB4BnC6jBf2g6Nu1Tlt79YotsaUVdxNVfMID1AsqAM4xzZ35aHRACA5vnUEJqpp6eBgCSoqKMBKbaQ&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Hill,</a> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-08/record-number-of-1-billion-disasters-hit-the-u-s-in-2020?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9df6oxhYBC4kjFPOSLGonKU4vnJcsJ5X5eDNtBtJvqZ_kwipx8JpEYmqZWZvsfQB1_64g1jaBM6Lr06AlVAOskIrjHAH5usy7ztfB0hQndLjTalpI&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>; Hottest year:<a href="https://www.axios.com/warmest-year-record-2020-51aa61c0-9f62-4ddb-b64e-d44e6777be5c.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8hRvLZbl_7X9hdSXyjoUFcxeJuReLLX0Bj7xbRQ0uHDyMaibRazBTU-BVgtspiUPMOeu0MgcmqAByb58vnT_9R0B8w_IJfpBhHSLKyuuBdC3NtmRo&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank"> Axios</a>, <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20210108060129-7uwpt/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--wjansxEAz2OBIdnFGXTI1DmKhEWKJzkSRsqfWAbQc4i0EwDcDlhDTgHbOpLEZ_MkisjbwZiuA8Jj91wcjZVjSjM5gXENaiG30BGG3hhW8HReivdM&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Thomson Reuters Foundation</a>, <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/last-year-was-the-hottest-in-human-history-despite-rec-1846017595?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--O9CqUkoFI1DHdIAc9Y9O7wgul_Q6gfGp69h94xMFVldxWqT8bVEan4AI0jdogjYo3PwhMAjNZJfm1iOXIJa4eC_7qicWpdp9fIErNTclaeAmi0H0&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Earther;</a> Both: <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/weather/2020-global-temperatures-tied-for-warmest-on-record-copernicus/index.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9aynu5m4jNRnMvpLeMwx3olDFke1xueE1Y_k96HUVuLBcpzoR-w3su-9FmTl_ymqID3Iid0V_1Y1NXvB2vgIfuDFFW_vJR-2IivyRzsQt7WkVVUPU&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">CNN</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/01/08/billion-dollar-disasters-2020/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--7ijhudKawfR3XePBWgTpnn6QKgxP8vdvKZTfrRb2WPQH9YvbUtVfzjUj8j-An2RJcvApzX9NfRpg0fZFCbpECwnLCN5hM2GiGGmXlV7wQOtN5TjA&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Washington Post,</a> <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zahrahirji/2020-record-billion-dollar-disasters?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--_D4VKuGs1zsO2qjqLoaCRxYs9f6kVUg6XVXcWFe6vIfnPUKv97-YyC0X3fNorfO9JE9wCO3dVKWIBlKo5PUEi14c7wXnquqqL2cjstjKrErvjTmg&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Buzzfeed</a>; Climate Signals background: <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/events/western-wildfire-season-2020?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--2-NVzH8yc4w0USXB76ynLvedWBnQZe5A9XB86lGTGrLjAm4AClZEuXJWg2OP6QG_Ch__p6VJXBkZaa6FaQHwgCkjtuu1ErfwiOur5cSpWCATzJC8&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">2020 Western wildfire season</a>, <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/events/atlantic-hurricane-season-2020?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8DqsWmT1ph9tcZasZx9eWdqBbXcH5R4sBsVISpCI-a6iq16DNgwwIUaL5rm390q6tMaFk5pzRwplW4ZXzp2CtnThPqu40WpmbD8q1bwF4isH96Qe8&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">2020 Atlantic hurricane season</a>, <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/climate-signals/extreme-precipitation-increase?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106075641&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--L3FwTuciPEFVY54XXPHML_zeXJmLv6yN6hO4f6efdSqEBJXQKoy33P2cijxT2dwlE207TkYoFkwb5xPfmkV7Rm6ibQgmnwstbqnWUI1IhQLgo2xs&utm_content=106075641&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Extreme precipitation</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Fires, deforestation, logging and mining threaten the integrity of the Amazon rainforest. Ria Sopala / Pixabay
The future of the world's largest rainforest looks bleak. A new report for Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development concluded that the Amazon rainforest will collapse and largely become a dry, shrubby plain by 2064. Development, deforestation and the climate crisis are to blame, study author and University of Florida geologist Robert Toovey Walker found, UPI reported.
<p>Walker reviewed recent research, offering that heavy development in Amazonian nations depleted the forest and threatens to push it over the edge towards destruction.</p><p>By nature of being a rainforest, the canopy creates its own precipitation. The local environment and inhabitants rely on the freshwater created therein for survival. The ecosystem can recover from smaller, periodic droughts but longer and more severe events are already diminishing the forest's long-term resilience, <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/amazon-rainforest-will-be-decimated-by-2064-professor-claims" target="_blank">Interesting Engineering</a> reported.</p>
<p>Longer dry seasons, which the rainforest is already experiencing and which are exacerbated by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation" target="_self">deforestation</a> and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, prevent rainforest canopies from recovering from fires. Flammable grasses and shrubs "permanently invade" and take over the landscape; the tropical rainforest dries out and transforms into a tropical savanna, the study found.</p><p>"A forest cannot survive if its canopy needs more than 4 years to recover from a yearly [drought] event," Walker wrote in the report. "Southern Amazonia can expect to reach a tipping point sometime before 2064 at the current rate of dry-season lengthening."</p>
<p>Earlier this year, a different study found that the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-ecosystem-collapse-2645458118.html" target="_self">Amazon ecosystem could collapse in less than 50 years</a> with deforestation being the primary culprit. According to UPI, Walker's latest review shaved five years off from that estimate and gave the most specific date of ecosystem demise ever provided, citing the same reason.</p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-rainforest-fire-brazil-2646869688.html" target="_self">Fire</a>, deforestation and logging are leading causes of tree loss. Industrial-scale cattle ranching and soybean production, in particular, drive the latter. Additionally, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-brazil-gold-mining-2645732733.html" target="_self">illegal gold mining is laying the forest bare and polluting rivers</a>.</p>
<p><br>Brazil's President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/jair-bolsonaro" target="_self">Jair Bolsonaro</a> has been criticized for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/brazil-bolsonaro-bill-open-indigenous-land-2645088985.html" target="_self">opening the forest to exploitation</a> and inciting forest destruction. Under Bolsonaro, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-deforestation-bolsonaro-2649115946.html" target="_self">Amazon deforestation skyrocketed to a 12-year high</a>, and activists warned that he <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/brazil-amazon-deforestation-coronavirus-2645950493.html" target="_self">used the pandemic as a smokescreen</a> to undermine protections for the rainforest. Walker criticized Bolsonaro's administration for "appear[ing] intent on scrapping all remaining restraints on the unfettered exploitation of Amazonia's natural resources."</p><p>Walker also estimated that the Amazon has shrunk by about 20% since intense development began and that the dry season has already lengthened in the south by an additional 6.5 days per decade, UPI reported.</p>
<p>The study's models predict that once deforestation reaches 30-50% in southern Amazonia, rainfall in the west will decrease by up to 40%, cementing the deterioration in that environment from lush, tropical forest to arid, open savanna, <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/new-report-predicts-southern-amazon-rainforest-is-heading-for-collapse-by-2064" target="_blank">Science Alert</a> reported.</p><p>"The best way to think of the forest ecosystem is that it's a pump," Walker told UPI. "The forest recycles moisture, which supports regional rainfall. If you continue to destroy the forest, the rainfall amount drops... and eventually, you wreck the pump."</p><p>As the forest transforms into a grassland, all the benefits of the massive ecosystem will also disappear and a "multidimensional catastrophe" will ensue, Walker wrote in the study.</p>
<p>Primarily, water security will evaporate for over 35 million people living in the region, Science Alert continued. The entire continent's dependency upon Amazonia for freshwater "means that the magnitude of the catastrophe will be worse than heretofore imagined," Walker noted in the study.</p><p>Additionally, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/brazil-amazon-wildlife-criminal-networks-2646841421.html" target="_self">many plants and animals in the biodiverse ecosystem will be driven to extinction</a>. Among those could lie new medical discoveries and foods, UPI noted. Timber and other precious resources will also disappear.</p><p>Finally and perhaps most alarmingly, according to Science Alert, the forest could lose its ability to store the world's excess carbon which helps to regulate the climate and planetary temperature. In fact, some predict the world's largest forest will flip from a sink to a source around 2035, the report said.</p><p>Walker concluded that it was "doubtful" that the Amazon forest could remain resilient into the future given the layers of threats facing it.</p>
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The iconic giant sequoia trees are seen at Sequoia National Park. lucky-photographer / Getty Images
By Emily Lin
Editor's note: As wildfires came dangerously close to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in September 2020, the curator of the archives there worked with Emily Lin, librarian and head of digital curation at the University of California Merced, to evacuate the archives to keep them safe. In this interview, Lin explains how they evacuated the records, what's in them and why they're worth preserving.
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<h2>Why were the archives of Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks evacuated?</h2><p><a href="http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/herbarium-details/?irn=125890" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ward Eldredge</a>, the curator of the archives of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and I had been talking about the potential partnership around digitization of collections that had been housed there for a couple of years now. There's been a concern about the safety of these records because <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/why-does-california-have-wildfires.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildfires in the past few years</a> have been an annual threat. So the long-term safekeeping of the records was very much on Eldredge's mind. And he pointed out that the UC Merced campus is located in one of the few areas in California that are outside of a high-risk fire zone and also outside of the risk of earthquakes. There was just no question that we would do whatever we could to bring them here for safekeeping.</p><p>In September, when the fires got really close to the park, Eldredge was trying really hard to find a way to move the materials. He just couldn't find a van or a truck because the residents in the area were also being called to evacuate, and there was a shortage. So in the course of a day, we managed to make arrangements to take our moving truck from campus, and he was able to secure a U-Haul truck. We were able to pack everything and move it out of the mountains to the UC Merced campus, which is two and a half hours away.</p>
<h2>What's in these archives?</h2><p>There were hundreds of boxes of collections, about 600 linear feet, and also cabinets of plant specimens and artifacts.</p><p>It's a complete record of the administrative history of the park. Sequoia was the second-oldest national park in the U.S., established in 1890. So there are records related to its founding and through to the 20th century. In letters written by the park directors to the U.S. president and the secretaries of the Department of the Interior, one can see how the thinking around managing public lands, conservation, fire and forest management changed over the last century.</p><p>Before the park was established, people would cut the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/cook/sec9.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sequoias down for timber</a>. The city of Los Angeles wanted to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/dilsaver-tweed/chap7a.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">build a dam</a> in Kings Canyon up until 1965. So you can see how the thinking changed and how we got from that way of thinking to really establishing the National Park Service and protecting these unique environments.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTA0NjQ1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDczOTg5MH0.qWtdBz64OwBfBwgTvag4W2Rno5RyuTlkYrHR_6hQqWI/img.jpg?width=980" id="f295e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="257f5d01186768bf31e0d94f5a829df1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="900" />
Kings Canyon is a rugged glacier-carved valley more than a mile deep. Crd637 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
<p>There's an incredible photographic record – tens of thousands of photographs that cover pretty much every place within the park. There are maps of the sequoia groves, maps related to how trails and roads and other buildings were constructed. We take these trails for granted, but they were huge undertakings involving hundreds of workers breaking rocks, cutting trees and excavating for years. They worked through the winter sometimes to do it within schedule. These projects also provided jobs during <a href="https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/dilsaver-tweed/chap6a.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Great Depression</a>.</p><h2>Who will find them useful?</h2><p>Anyone, from those within the parks who want to better understand the history of the park, to the rangers and the interpreters who want to provide and present that history to the general public. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWrNMyR30GM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ken Burns</a>, the acclaimed documentary filmmaker, accessed these records while he was making his television series about the national parks.</p><p>They'll also be more widely available for students to use. There's plenty of material in there for lots of Ph.D. students working on dissertations and for those who want to really investigate how best to manage public lands and determine what's effective. That knowledge is going to benefit the broader public and help conserve these national parks for all of us. There's a rich record that can help us understand what is unique about the environment that allows these trees to survive.</p><h2>What are the plans for keeping the archives at UC Merced?</h2><p>When the records were kept in the park, it was just one person, Ward Eldredge, maintaining the records. That's a lot of work. You could make an appointment and he could provide access if you wanted to come to the park, but it's in a very small space within the park headquarters, so the accessibility was definitely limited. Now that these collections are at the library at UC Merced, it will be easier for people to be able to access them.</p><p>Our vision is to be able to digitize much of this material. Once it's online, it will be a lot easier for people to at least see and maybe answer some of their immediate questions. And if there's a need for them to see the physical material, they can still make arrangements to do that.</p><p>There's still a long way to go, because normally, we would have to make a plan with the National Park Service, raise funds, build the facilities to store them safely and so on. Because we had to evacuate them, we still have to work on formalizing an agreement, but our goal is eventually to make sure that these records will be safe.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152367/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation"></p>
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<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-lin-1189924" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emily Lin</a> is Head of Digital Curation and Scholarship, UC Merced, <em>University of California, Merced.</em><br/>
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<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Emily Lin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em>
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<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-curators-transferred-sequoia-and-kings-canyon-national-parks-archives-to-escape-wildfires-152367" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Flames and heavy smoke are seen from the Apple Fire on August 1, 2020 in Cherry Valley, California. David McNew / Getty Images
By Brett B. Palm
The year 2020 will be remembered for many reasons, including its record-breaking wildfires that turned San Francisco's skies an apocalyptic shade of red and blanketed large parts of the West in smoke for weeks on end.
<p>California experienced <a href="https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/11416/top20_acres.pdf" target="_blank">five of its six largest fires</a> on record in 2020, including the first modern "<a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/10/5/21502397/august-complex-gigafire-wildfire-california-record" target="_blank">gigafire</a>," a wildfire that burned over 1 million acres. Colorado saw its <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2020/10/20/colorado-largest-wildfire-history/" target="_blank">three largest fires</a> on record.</p><p>While the smoke can make for beautiful sunsets, it can also have dire consequences for human health.</p><p>I am an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LnQkoXcAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">atmospheric chemist</a>, and the atmosphere is my laboratory. When I look at the sky, I see a mixture of many <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-wildfire-smoke-and-why-is-it-so-bad-for-your-lungs-144790" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">thousands of different chemical compounds</a> interacting with each other and with sunlight.</p><p>The reactions and transformations in the atmosphere cause wildfire smoke to change dramatically as it travels downwind, and studies have shown that it can grow <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-07-toxic-wildfire-ages.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more toxic as it ages</a>. In order to accurately forecast the effects of wildfire emissions on downwind populations and issue more-targeted air quality warnings as wildfire seasons worsen, we have to understand which chemicals are being emitted and how smoke changes with time.</p><p>To figure that out, my colleagues and I flew airplanes into the smoke plumes of some of the West's large wildfires.</p>
How We Study Wildfires
<p>Large wildfires and the way wind carries their smoke cannot be easily replicated in a laboratory. This makes them difficult to study. One of the best ways to learn about real wildfire smoke chemistry is to sample it directly in the atmosphere.</p><p>In <a href="https://www.eol.ucar.edu/field_projects/we-can" target="_blank">2018</a> and <a href="https://csl.noaa.gov/projects/firex-aq/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2019</a>, my colleagues and I crisscrossed the sky over active wildfires in specialized airplanes loaded with scientific instruments. Each instrument is designed to sample a different part of the smoke, often by literally sticking a tube out the window.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDM2OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzQyMTM2NX0.xXKzsLFESpI3r2UCV6-ed68eJDWnTXd2hf3RU5ZKvq0/img.jpg?width=980" id="d3ce7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="74d48586c021de775ef9b28da632b825" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="872" />
To sample smoke as it moves downwind, scientists flew back and forth across smoke plumes. The gray lines are the flights from 2018. They turn red where the path crossed a smoke plume. Brett Palm/University of Washington, CC BY-ND
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDM3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjczNTQzOH0.rgNlb3xHx8CRA1w0ZDVVwoeOwDlHnP59VDMgQz0mqpM/img.jpg?width=980" id="b3f0e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6280bfc35e09f14ff524a43304a72e1f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="676" />
Scientific aircraft used for these experiments are filled with instruments that measure wildfire smoke in different ways. Brett Palm/University of Washington, CC BY-ND
<p>Wildfire smoke is far more complex and dynamic than meets the eye. It contains thousands of different compounds, most of which are molecules containing various amounts of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen atoms. There are gases (individual molecules) as well as particles (millions of molecules coagulated together).</p><p>No single instrument can measure all of these molecules at once. In fact, some specific compounds are a challenge to measure at all. Many scientists, including myself, dedicate their careers to designing and building new instruments to improve our measurements and continue to advance our understanding of the atmosphere and how it affects us.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDM3NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NDIxMjk1OH0.3UW9HWcePw-0595YdXrXhGfXh9FfHPLWAqQjbMaDtdE/img.jpg?width=980" id="8fcf3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e9df69ba9785d1ddd063319e440f2ec7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="1652" />
Smoke plumes from western wildfires reached across the U.S. in mid-September 2020. Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory
<p>In newly published research from the 2018 wildfires, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012218117" target="_blank">my colleagues and I showed</a> how the smoke particles changed rapidly as they were carried downwind.</p><p>Some of the particles were evaporating into gases, similar to a rain puddle evaporating into water vapor when the Sun comes out. At the same time, some of the gases in smoke were going through reactions to form new particles, similar to water vapor condensing to form a cloud or dew droplets. Meanwhile, chemical reactions were occurring, changing the molecules themselves.</p><p>As these molecules reacted with sunlight and other gases in the atmosphere, the smoke was fundamentally transformed. This is what we mean when scientists talk about smoke "aging" or getting "stale" over time. Other recent research has started to show how wildfire smoke can become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b01034" target="_blank">more toxic as it ages</a>.</p>
<h3>What Do All These Changes Mean for Health?</h3><p>The health damage from smoke is largely a result of how much PM2.5 it contains. These are tiny particles, a fraction of the width of a human hair, that can be breathed deep into the lungs where they can irritate the respiratory tract. Even short-term exposure can <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-wildfire-smoke-and-why-is-it-so-bad-for-your-lungs-144790" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">aggravate heart and lung problems</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDM4MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODk0MjYxMn0.h9ggquQXrZcOxG0aNP0sIhXYxMBvZMc1OiiBMfYWS48/img.jpg?width=980" id="d4a15" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a50759db9e2bc60eb8002c6b3d4bdda9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="838" />
PM2.5 particles are tiny at less than 2.5 microns across. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
<p>Chemical reactions control how much PM2.5 is in wildfire smoke as it is transported away from the fires and into population centers. Using our aircraft measurements to understand these processes, we chemists can better predict how much PM2.5 will be present in aged smoke.</p><p>Combined with meteorology forecasting that predicts where the smoke will go, this could lead to improved air quality models that can tell people downwind whether they will be exposed to unhealthy air.</p><h3>Better Air Quality Forecasting</h3><p>With wildfires increasingly in the news, more people have become aware of their own air quality. Resources such as <a href="https://gispub.epa.gov/airnow/" target="_blank">AirNow</a> from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provide current and forecasted air quality data, along with explanations of the health hazards. Local information is often available from state or regional agencies as well.</p><p>Air quality measurements and forecasts can help people <a href="https://www.airnow.gov/sites/default/files/2018-04/air-quality-guide_pm_2015_0.pdf" target="_blank">avoid unhealthy situations</a>, especially sensitive groups such as people with asthma. During predicted periods of unhealthy air quality, local or state governments can use forecasts to reduce other pollution sources, such as discouraging residential wood burning or high-emitting industrial activities.</p><p>Looking to the future, wildfire smoke is likely to be widespread across the West each year for several reasons. <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/313/5789/940.abstract" target="_blank">Rising temperatures</a> are leaving the landscape drier and more flammable. At the same time, more people are building homes in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718850115" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildland-urban interface</a>, creating more opportunities for fires to start.</p><p>A large community of scientists including me are working to better understand wildfire emissions and how they change as they blow into downwind communities. That knowledge will improve forecasts for air quality and health impacts of wildfire smoke, so people can learn to adapt and avoid the worst health consequences.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brett-b-palm-1185672" target="_blank">Brett B. Palm</a> is a </em><em>Postdoctoral Researcher in Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Washington.</em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: </em><em><em>Brett Palm receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.</em></em></p><p><em><em></em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/wildfire-smoke-changes-dramatically-as-it-ages-and-that-matters-for-downwind-air-quality-heres-what-we-learned-flying-through-smoke-plumes-151671" target="_blank">The Conversation.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A home burns during the Bear fire, part of the North Lightning Complex fires in Butte County, California on September 9, 2020. Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty Images
Wildfires burned more acres this year in the U.S. than ever before in modern records, E&E reports based on data published by the National Interagency Fire Center.
<p>Extreme heat, fueled by climate change caused by extracting and burning fossil fuels, dries vegetation and turns vast swaths of forest into a tinderbox. </p><p>"In 2020 we saw some of the hottest months on record, and large portions of the western U.S. were in severe drought," University of Colorado fire scientist Jennifer Balch told E&E. </p><p>California, also hit by two exceptionally severe heat waves this year, more than doubled its previous record of acreage burned and its ecosystems will likely be changed for centuries. </p><p>"We can no longer ignore the link between warming and wildfires. We will see more fire seasons like 2020 in the future," Balch told E&E. </p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p>National record: <a href="https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2020/12/22/stories/1063721269?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=104109244&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_dSsiWevat5tQoh4RR94AyJNygqvnOLRtpj8bu0avKAdXXS6BQCmevXm-o1eiuc8FSEMyCA0Y2n4agiqS_jqHGbaKnqeSkQBhWz0r5S5UMC75Y6qE&utm_content=104109244&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E;</a> California future: <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-21/worst-california-wildfire-season-has-altered-forests-for-centuries-to-come?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=104109244&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_UmBJzs4IFz8ZjWoLpXqLOO60dqrAObwVzcgt2EEC49PRPehJ-Lyezq6F7ZbOdXyQjEvQo8FMlFxVoZ6OZJVtrhQAtj8eDmJJti-kmZRiyA3xLDeM&utm_content=104109244&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">LA Times</a>; Climate Signals background: <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/climate-change-wildfires?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=104109244&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--Ggr5dWFtsPI1VZCxeNbMQ0vWyHk8BUfumwyTDeef4JG8vCHIJtxVFqflPNftOwJNiX5M2UHAjc6aW5esfl_k20H927H3PBrph6Axp4_QYwANjEhg&utm_content=104109244&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Wildfires</a>, <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/events/western-wildfire-season-2020?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=104109244&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9PGLNy8YV5zwvLWOBYCNxwMMdPTEUI_AN61JCsnc-q-RrKP2KOxjxi8wSUkacIwzFnBful1f-MQRkIjA5x3haIRJbicZHBX4_cgli3wdvLCQKRf-g&utm_content=104109244&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">2020 Western wildfire season</a>, <a href="https://medium.com/i-heart-climate-voices/living-with-smoke-and-fire-in-the-era-of-climate-change-87713856f271" target="_blank">Living with Smoke and Fire Webinar</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
- California Wildfires Burn 10,000 Acres in a Single Day - EcoWatch ›
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- 7 Devastating Photos of Wildfires in California, Oregon and ... ›
- Where Do We Go From Here? - EcoWatch ›
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Hurricane Iota is the latest category 5 storm ever recorded in the Atlantic, with the aftermath seen here in Cortes, Honduras on November 19, 2020. Orlando SIERRA / AFP / Getty Images
By Jeff Masters, PhD and Dana Nuccitelli
Calendar year 2020 was an extreme and abnormal year, in so many ways. The global coronavirus pandemic altered people's lives around the world, as did extreme weather and climate events. Let's review the year's top 10 such events.
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1. Hottest Year on Record?
<p>The official rankings will not be released until January 14, but <a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateOfGavin/status/1338518056457396226" target="_blank">according to NASA</a>, Earth's average surface temperature in 2020 is likely to tie with 2016 for the hottest year on record, making the last seven years the seven hottest on record.</p><p>Remarkably, the record warmth of 2020 occurred during a minimum in the solar cycle and in a year in which a moderate La Niña event formed. Surface cooling of the tropical Pacific during La Niña events typically causes a slight global cool-down, as does the minimum of the solar cycle, making it difficult to set all-time heat records. The record heat of 2020 in these circumstances is a demonstration of how powerful human causes of global warming have become.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDEyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjY2ODU3NX0.KU1_aeaWbfXh5ZtQIYIArT1qqOI01KFE-yRXqqgecCs/img.jpg?width=980" id="da971" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4b9e666e12bd344a3db3815c6c63c6bc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2048" data-height="1038" />
Figure 1. The eye of category 5 Hurricane Iota on November 16, the strongest hurricane of the 2020 season, as seen by the Sentinel-2 satellite. Image credit: Pierre Markuse
<h4>2. The Wild 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season</h4><p>The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season produced an extraordinary 30 named storms (highest on record), 13 hurricanes (second-highest on record), and six major hurricanes (tied for second-highest on record): more than double the activity of an average season (12 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes).</p><p>The 2020 season was notable not only for its record number of named storms (after breaking into the Greek alphabet by the ridiculously early date of September 18), but also for its record number of rapidly intensifying storms (10), record number of landfalling U.S. named storms (12), and record number of landfalling U.S. hurricanes (six). Every single mile of the mainland U.S. coast from Texas to Maine was under a watch or warning related to tropical cyclones at some point in 2020. U.S. hurricane damage exceeded $37 billion, according to insurance broker Aon, the eighth-highest annual total on record.</p><p>Two catastrophic category 4 hurricanes hit Central America in November: Hurricane Iota, the latest category 5 storm ever recorded in the Atlantic, and Hurricane Eta, the deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2020, with at least 274 people listed as dead or missing. At least seven hurricanes from 2020 will be worthy of having their names retired: Iota, Eta, Zeta, Delta, Sally, Laura, and Isaias – although there is still <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/11/17/greek-letter-hurricane-names-retire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">no official mechanism</a> for retiring storm names from the Greek alphabet. The record for most names retired in one Atlantic season was set in 2005, when five hurricanes had their names retired.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDEyNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDUxODI5N30.XnYLzKRhXOlT6sbQUTUpHbmaobQCc14ApUzPHj99kKg/img.png?width=980" id="21ac3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="00d3b41ac2fa9641bf0f6fcd62c2e730" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="900" data-height="781" />
Figure 2. Global energy-related emissions (top) and annual change (bottom) in gigatons of carbon dioxide, with projected 2020 levels highlighted in red. Other major events are indicated to a give a sense of scale. Image credit: Carbon Brief, using data from the Global Energy Review
3. Record-High Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Levels Despite Record Emissions Drop
<p>As a result of restrictions taken to curb the coronavirus pandemic, carbon emissions to the atmosphere in 2020 declined by 9 to 10% in the U.S. and 6 to 7% globally, although some of those reductions were offset by carbon released by wildfires. Those are the largest annual carbon emissions declines since World War II and far more than the 1% global and 6% U.S. emissions drops brought about by the 2008 Great Recession.</p><p>Nevertheless, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose by 2.6 parts per million from 2019 to 414 ppm in 2020. The amount of carbon in the atmosphere will not decline until human emissions reach net zero. Moreover, as coronavirus restrictions were lifted during 2020, global carbon pollution nearly rebounded to pre-COVID levels.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDEyOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MDA5NTg4Nn0.ypENT7I4ZfF4LOwG9o9kFXU97xnPicniu65cuchVJRE/img.jpg?width=980" id="e2dec" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1b5f508352cc34f6eb10ea76744f7c35" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2047" data-height="1039" />
Figure 3. A wildfire in the Sakha Republic, Arctic Circle, Siberia, Russia creates smoke and pyrocumulus clouds on July 9, 2020. A record heat wave in Siberia during June led to the Arctic's first-ever 38.0°C (100.4°F) temperature and helped drive the Arctic's worst wildfire season on record. Image credit: Copernicus Sentinel data via Pierre Markuse
<h4>4. An Apocalyptic Wildfire Season</h4><p>The year 2020 brought record levels of fire activity to the U.S. and Arctic, but unusually low levels in Canada and tropical Africa, resulting in a below-average year for global fire activity, according to the <a href="https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/wildfires-americas-and-tropical-africa-2020-compared-previous-years" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service</a>. According to Insurance broker Aon, the global direct cost of wildfires in 2020 was $17 billion, ranking as the fifth-costliest wildfire year, behind 2017, 2018, 2015 (major Indonesian fires), and 2010 (major Russian fires).</p><p>The Australian bushfire season ending in early 2020 (due to seasons in the Southern hemisphere being the reverse of those in the Northern hemisphere) was also <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/01/how-climate-change-influenced-australias-unprecedented-fires/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a record-breaker</a>, having burned more than 46 million acres and destroyed more than 3,500 homes.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/nfn.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Interagency Fire Center</a> reported that U.S. wildfires burned 10.25 million acres as of December 18, 2020, the highest yearly total <a href="https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_stats_totalFires.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">since accurate records began in 1983</a>. The previous record was 10.13 million acres in 2015. <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/regional/time-series/109/tavg/3/10/1895-2020?base_prd=true&begbaseyear=1901&endbaseyear=2000&trend=true&trend_base=10&begtrendyear=1895&endtrendyear=2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The hottest August through October period</a> in Western U.S. history, combined with severe drought and a once-in-a-generation offshore wind event, conspired to bring about an apocalyptic western U.S. wildfire season. Total U.S. wildfire damages in 2020 were $16.5 billion, said Aon, ranking as its third-costliest year on record, behind 2017 ($24 billion) and 2018 ($22 billion). Wildfires caused at least 43 direct U.S. deaths. But the indirect death toll among people 65 and older in California alone during the period August 1-September 10 – due to wildfire smoke inhalation – was likely between 1,200 and 3,000, researchers at Stanford University reported in <a href="http://www.g-feed.com/2020/09/indirect-mortality-from-recent.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a September 11 study</a>. The 4.2 million acres burned in California in 2020 was more than double the previous record set in 2018.</p><h4>5. Super Typhoon Goni: Strongest Landfalling Tropical Cyclone on Record</h4><p>Super Typhoon Goni made landfall near Bato, Catanduanes Island, Philippines, on November 1 with sustained winds of 195 mph and a central pressure of 884 mb, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, or JTWC. Goni was the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone in world recorded history, using one-minute average wind speeds from the National Hurricane Center for the Atlantic/Northeast Pacific and one-minute average winds from JTWC for the rest of the planet's ocean basins.</p><p>Goni killed 31 people, damaged or destroyed 250,000 homes, and caused over $1 billion in damage, tying it with Typhoon Bopha in 2012 and Typhoon Vamco in 2020 as the Philippines' second-most expensive typhoon on record, adjusted for inflation. Only Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 ($11.1 billion) was more damaging.</p><p>Ominously, seven of the 10 strongest landfalls in recorded history have occurred since 2006.</p><h4>6. Hottest Reliably Measured Temperature: 130°F in Death Valley</h4><p>Death Valley, California, hit an astonishing 129.9 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4°C) at 3:41 p.m. PDT, August 16, 2020, at the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center. This reading was rounded to 130 degrees Fahrenheit in the <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSWPC/status/1295137837361139712" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">daily summary from NOAA</a>. According to weather records experts Christopher Burt, who wrote the comprehensive weather records book "Extreme Weather," and Maximiliano Herrera, who tweets under the Twitter handle, <a href="https://twitter.com/extremetemps?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Extreme Temperatures Around the World</a>, the observation may be the hottest reliably recorded temperature in world history, breaking the 129.2 degrees Fahrenheit readings <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/historic-heat-wave-reponsible-for-death-valleys-129f-gradually-weak.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">at Death Valley in 2013</a> and <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/eastern-hemispheres-alltime-temperature-record-kuwait-fries-in-54.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in Kuwait in 2016</a>.</p><p>The World Meteorological Organization is conducting a review of the site's observing equipment. "If the observation passes an investigation (instrument calibration, etc.) then, yes, this is a new reliably measured global extreme heat record," Burt wrote by email. However, the <a href="https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-meteorological-organization-global-weather-climate-extremes-archive" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">official world record</a> will remain a 134 degrees Fahrenheit measurement taken at Death Valley on July 10, 1913, a record <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/death-valley-california-may-have-recorded-hottest-temp-in-world-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">widely viewed as bogus</a>.</p><h4>7. Most Expensive 2020 Disaster: Flooding in China Causes $32 billion in Damage</h4><p>Seasonal monsoon flooding in China in June through September killed 278 people, damaged or destroyed 1.4 million homes and businesses, and did $32 billion in damage, according to insurance broker Aon. EM-DAT, the international disaster database, ranks that total as the third-most expensive non-U.S. weather disaster since accurate records began in 1990 (adjusted for inflation), behind 1998 flooding in China ($48 billion) and 2011 flooding in Thailand ($47 billion).</p><p>In a September 2020 study published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, "<a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/bams/article/101/8/E1464/345591/Each-0-5-C-of-Warming-Increases-Annual-Flood" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Each 0.5°C of Warming Increases Annual Flood Losses in China by More than US$60 Billion</a>," researchers found that annual average flood losses in China during the period 1984-2018 were $19.2 billion (2015 dollars), which was 0.5% of China's GDP. Annual flood losses increased to $25.3 billion annually during the period 2006-2018. The study authors predicted that each additional 0.5 degrees Celsius of global warming will increase China flood losses by $60 billion per year.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDEzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTQ3MzUwOX0.oao5yK9yRRggMbMxirT8h4SicN9QSGMi72cm5KDxiYU/img.jpg?width=980" id="e5190" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9ad394b10d6702921de5c865a0786dc0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="974" data-height="545" />
Figure 5. Arctic sea ice age near the time of the annual minimum in 1985 (left) and in 2020 (right). There is very little old, thick ice left in the Arctic, increasing the chances of a late-summer ice-free Arctic by the 2030s. Image credit: Zack Labe
<h4>8. Near-Record Low Arctic Sea Ice</h4><p>Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum on September 15, 2020, bottoming out at its second-lowest extent and volume ever recorded, behind 2012. A <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/10/warmer-climate-and-arctic-sea-ice-in-a-veritable-suicide-pact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new study suggests</a> that the 2012 record hasn't been broken despite ever-rising temperatures because the rapidly-warming Arctic has altered the jet stream, leading to cloudy summer Arctic conditions that have acted to temporarily preserve some of the sea ice. However, long-term global warming will inevitably win out, and scientists expect the Arctic to be ice-free in the summer beginning sometime between 2030 and 2050. Overall, three-quarters of the volume of summer sea ice in the Arctic has melted over the past 40 years.</p><p>The Northern Sea Route along the northern coast of Russia finally froze shut on November 3, after being open a <a href="https://twitter.com/RARohde/status/1323746737316679680" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">record 112 days</a>, and 2020 was the busiest shipping season ever for natural gas tankers in the Arctic, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-12/melting-arctic-ice-means-longest-lng-sailing-season-in-northern-sea-route" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to Bloomberg</a>.</p><h4>9. U.S. Withdrawal From Paris Climate Accord and Election of Joe Biden</h4><p>The U.S. officially withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/11/covid-19-put-u-s-back-on-track-with-reneged-paris-targets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the day after the November 3, 2020 election</a>. But Joe Biden, who won that presidential election, has announced his intent to immediately rejoin the Paris agreement on the day of his inauguration: January 20, 2021.</p><p>President-elect Biden considers tackling climate change a top priority and has proposed a plan to invest $2 trillion over four years in deploying climate solutions. He has <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/12/heres-the-team-tasked-with-carrying-out-bidens-incredibly-ambitious-climate-plans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">assembled a team</a> tasked with carrying out that plan, including several climate-focused cabinet member-nominees and the first national adviser on climate change.</p><p>It's a dramatic change from the previous administration's record of <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/06/most-trump-environmental-rollbacks-will-take-years-to-be-reversed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate and environmental protection rollbacks</a>.</p><h4>10. A Near-Record Number of Global Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters</h4><p>Through the end of November, 44 billion-dollar weather disasters had occurred globally in 2020, <a href="http://thoughtleadership.aonbenfield.com/Pages/home.aspx?reportcategory=impact%20forecasting" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to the November 2020 Catastrophe Report</a> from insurance broker Aon. The record in the Aon database is 47, set in 2010, and 2020 could challenge that record when the final tallies are announced on January 25, 2021.</p><p>The United States suffered 25 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2020, surpassing Aon's previous U.S. record of 20 in 2017. The record number of U.S. disasters led to the American Red Cross's providing record levels of disaster sheltering in 2020, according to <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2020-is-a-record-year-for-disaster-shelters-red-cross-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a December 2 article</a> by E&E News.</p><p>An <a href="https://www.undrr.org/publication/human-cost-disasters-overview-last-20-years-2000-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">October 13 report</a> by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction found a "staggering" rise in climate-related disasters, including extreme weather events: those nearly doubled, from 3,656 in 1980-1999 to 6,681 in 2000-2019. The number of major floods more than doubled, from 1,389 to 3,254, and the incidence of destructive storms increased from 1,457 to 2,034.</p><p>The report blamed human-caused climate change as a significant factor in the increased disasters. It warned: "It is baffling that we willingly and knowingly continue to sow the seeds of our own destruction, despite the science and evidence that we are turning our only home into an uninhabitable hell for millions of people." The U.N. report authors called attention to "industrial nations that are failing miserably on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to levels commensurate with the desired goal of keeping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius as set out in the Paris Agreement."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/12/the-top-10-weather-and-climate-events-of-a-record-setting-year/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2649628910#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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