Posted on 4 August 2024 by BaerbelW, Doug Bostrom, John Hartz

Story of the week

Like a stuck phonograph record, our Story of the Week continues as "the entire Earth's temperature is higher than our species has ever before seen." We think of heatwaves as regional features; here it's our whole planet seeing prolonged bulging temperatues. In a crowded news environment crammed with urgencies (and fluff), this news is largely flying beneath the radar of wide public notice but it is nonetheless (somewhat axiomatically) historic, truly remarkable. 

Only last week it was phenomenal to see two days in a row exceeding our pevious experience. A few days later and we're in a thicket of multiple new records, four as of the Washington Post's coverage. 

Other news and analysis of our ongoing planetary fever:

• Life and death in the heat. What it feels like when Earth's temperatures soar to record highs
• The hottest days in 120,000 years
• Heatwave blanketing Olympics ‘impossible’ without climate change
• Antarctic temperatures soar 50 degrees above norm in long-lasting heat wave

Even with current data that is off previous charts and an incomplete explanation for "precisely why now," we'll likely see global temperature simmer down a bit not so long from now. Squinting at any graph of Earth surface temperature for the past 60 years will serve nicely to set expectations.

Stuck in a related groove, we'll point out yet again that global temperature reliably wavers from year to year, but only a fool would bet against a 5-year run ending cooler than when started. This elevator is headed up. 

Stories we promoted this week, by publication date:

Before July 28

• Southern Ocean absorbs more CO2 than previously thought, earth.com, Andrei Ionescu.
• Park Fire in California Grows Dramatically, Becoming Largest Active Blaze in U.S., US, New York Times, Alan Blinder, John Yoon & Kate Selig. "The fire in Northern California has burned more than 348,000 acres. In Oregon, firefighters were working to contain the Durkee fire, which has covered at least 288,000 acres."
• 4 hottest days ever observed raise fears of a planet nearing ‘tipping points’, Climate, Washington Post, Sarah Kaplan. "Since last July, Earth’s average temperature has been at least 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels."
• Life and death in the heat. What it feels like when Earth's temperatures soar to record highs, The Independent News, Seth Borenstein and Sam Metz. As the warming Earth sizzled through a week with four of the hottest days ever measured, the world focused on cold hard numbers that showed the average daily temperature for the entire planet
• 2024 Paris Olympics highlight climate change's growing threat to athletes, Nation, USA TODAY, Dinah Voyles Pulver USA TODAY.
• Extreme heat is wilting and burning forests, making it harder to curb climate change, Climatre, Washington Post, Dino Grandoni. "High temperatures, droughts and wildfire last year caused some forests to wilt and burn enough to degrade the ability of the land to lock away carbon dioxide."
• How Soon Might the Atlantic Ocean Break? Two Sibling Scientists Found an Answer—and Shook the World, Wired, Sanora Upson. "A gigantic, weather-defining current system could be headed to collapse. Peter and Susanne Ditlevsen had a simple yet controversial question: How much time might we have left to save it?"

July 28

• 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #30, Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, Doug Bostrom & John Hartz. A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 21, 2024 thru Sat, July 27, 2024.
• Washington Is Giving Tax Breaks to Data Centers That Threaten the State’s Green Energy Push, The Seattle Times/Pro Publica, Lulu Ramadan & Sydney Brownstone,. "In 2019, Washington adopted legislation requiring electric utilities to go carbon-neutral in a decade. Yet lawmakers continued to promote the growth of energy-guzzling data centers with generous tax incentives."

July 29

• Germans Combat Climate Change With D.I.Y. Solar Panels, NYT, Melissa Eddy. Plug-and-play solar panels are popping up in yards and on balcony railings across Germany, driven by bargain prices and looser regulations.
• Heat is testing the limits of human survivability. Here’s how it kills, Climate, CNN, Laura Paddison, Jen Christensen, Mary Gilbert, Henry Zeris, Yukari Schrickel, Lou Robinson & Way Mullery.
• The hottest days in 120,000 years, The Climate Brink, Andrew Dessler. Last week we set a record: we experienced the hottest day in the observational record. That record stood for 24 hours, when the next day took the record. In fact, these may have been the hottest days in the last 120,000 years.
• Flames 'right by our front door': Wildfires rage across western US, Nation, USA TODAY,, Claire Thornton & Jorge L. Ortiz.
• How to Blunt the `New Climate Denial` with Better Language, DeSmog, Geoff Dembicki. A Q&A with Dr. Genevieve Guenther, author of a new book called The Language of Climate Politics.
• A surprising byproduct of wildfires: Contaminated drinking water, Climate, Washington p'ost, Daniel Wolfe & Aaron Steckelberg.
• Oil companies sold the public on a fake climate solution — and swindled taxpayers out of billions, Vox, Amy Westervelt. The fossil fuel industry’s carbon capture bamboozle, explained.

July 30

• Charity Commission Fails to Clamp Down on Climate Science Denial Group, DeSmog, Adam Barnett and Sam Bright. The Global Warming Policy Foundation has been accused of funding one-sided research attacking net zero policies.
• Climate leaders say Harris has ‘lit an electric spark’ with young voters, Climate, Washington Post, Maxine Joselow. "More than 350 environmentalists endorse her candidacy, saying it could help energize climate-minded voters, less than 100 days before the 2024 election"
• Robots Are Coming, and They’re on a Mission: Install Solar Panels, Climate, New York Times, Brad Plumer. "Energy companies say a labor shortage is one big obstacle to installing more solar power. They’re turning to machines to speed things up."

July 31

• Harris Grabs Green New Deal Network Endorsement That Eluded Biden, Politics, Inside Climate News, Marianne Lavelle & Keerti Gopal. "The coalition of progressive youth and environmental justice groups are confident they can help give the presumptive Democratic nominee a needed edge with the base, even as the Trump team seeks to paint her as a radical."
• Heatwave blanketing Olympics ‘impossible’ without climate change, Energy & Climate, Politico.eu, Federica Di Sario. "Scientists said a heatwave that has stretched across Mediterranean countries would have been 3 degrees Celsius cooler were it not for years of fossil fuel emissions."
• Antarctic temperatures soar 50 degrees above norm in long-lasting heat wave, Environment, Washington Post, Kasha Patel. "This historic warm spell in East Antarctica is an ominous example of the temperature spikes this polar climate could experience more of in a warming world."
• From microbes to mammals: we tracked the rapid rise of new ecosystems as glaciers retreat and ice sheets melt, Environment & Energy, The Conversation AU, Levan Tielidze.
• How climate change fuels economic decline and migration, Biz News, Linda Poon.

August 1

• Icy body bags and mobile coolers: Here’s what it takes now to survive outside in America’s hottest city, Climate, CNN, Bill Weir.
• Shell Slammed for 'Planet-Wrecking' Profits as Temperatures Soar to New Heights, Common Dreams, Olivia Rosane. " 'We cannot let countries and communities that have done the least to cause climate change pay the price for Shell's greed,; one green group said.
• Wildfires devastated Jasper. The soot and ash are putting Alberta's glaciers at risk, scientists warn, Science, CBC News, Inayat Singh. "Ash is darkening Athabasca Glacier, causing it to absorb more solar heat and hastening glacier melt"

August 2

• Got questions about climate change? Start here., Yale Climate Connections, SueEllen Campbell. Everything you (and the people in your life) wanted to know about the science and potential solutions.
• New Sabin Center Report Maps Climate Cases in the Global South, State of the Planet, Guest.
• Tropical Storm Debby forecast to hit Florida this weekend with torrential rain and wind, Weather, CNN, Mary Gilbert.
• As the Election Draws Near, Democrats Face a Climate Messaging Conundrum, Today's Climate, Inside Climate News, Kiley Price.
• Heat in European region kills 175,000 a year, WHO estimates  "High temperatures worsen common chronic health conditions" by Staff, Health, CBC News, Aug 2, 2024

August 3

• `This is climate change`: Scottish beach eroding by 7 metres a year, The Guardian, Rachel Keenan. Centuries-old Montrose golf links falling into the sea and town at risk of flooding as coastal erosion accelerates