The heat was hard to beat around the US last month, making it the 11th warmest July on record. Meanwhile, the sweltering temperatures the last three months brought the warmest May through July on record, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
According to the 28th annual State of the Climate report, 2017 was the third warmest year on record for the globe, behind 2016 and 2015. The planet also experienced record-high greenhouse gas concentrations as well as rises in sea level, while Arctic maximum sea ice coverage fell to a record low.
The American Meteorological Society published its “State of the Climate in 2017”, reporting that the sea level last year was the highest annual average since 1993. The sea level has increased for the sixth consecutive year. As for the Arctic, sea ice extent continued to see low levels.
The work group for the Rotterdam-Moerdijk Industrial Cluster has published a report with concrete proposals that will allow the regional sector to contribute to the achievement of the climate goals. Technically speaking, these proposals could be implemented today, the Port said in a statement.
The Great Barrier Reef could be hit with repeat coral bleaching events every two years by 2034 under current greenhouse gas pollution rates, according to a new report by Climate Council, revealing that accelerating climate change has driven a 54% increase in the number of marine heatwave days each year.
Persistent warm temperatures around the world last month made for the 5th warmest June ever and the first half of the year the 4th warmest for the planet, according to NOAA’s monthly analysis. The average global temperature in June was 1.35 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 59.9 degrees.
In its latest Shipping Review, Allianz noted that climate change is impacting ice hazards for shipping, opening new trade routes in some areas, while increasing the risk of ice in others. Arctic ice has been thinning over the past 40 years, bringing new opportunities for shipping, but also environmental concerns.
The world’s oceans are likely to become more acidic than at any time in the past 14 million years, according to a new research led by UK’s Cardiff University. Under a ‘business-as-usual’ future scenario where we continue to emit same CO2 as today, atmospheric CO2 would be near 930 parts per million in 2100.
In the beginning of the year, New York sued five major oil companies. Namely, it demanded ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips to pay for the cost of protecting the city from the arising threat that the climate change poses. However, a New York federal judge dismissed the city’s complain.
The remote location of polar oceans, their vastness and dangerous environment raise significant challenges when gathering data and conducting science. However, advances in technology are providing new opportunities for data collection that go beyond what was possible even 20 years ago.
