Guess what just happened? A new report on climate change and the state of our planet. How did "a new report" come to sound so mundane?
You can access State of the Climate 2016 here. If you would prefer the highlights, go here.
The long and the short of it. 2016 hottest year ever, no surprise. Thanks to a neutral El Nino, 2017 won't break last year's record even if it's close. For those who don't like to read, here's a graphic depiction of where we stand. The blue parts are the good parts. The red/reddish-brown parts are the other parts.
There's a grim but neat interactive map you can access here. They've even got the Fort Mac fires listed.
In one sentence, "the world crossed a 'new threshold' of extreme weather in 2016."
I wonder what the temperature in BC would have been had it not been for the smoke from forest fires these last few weeks.
ReplyDeleteThis last hour I saw the sky and cloud for the first time in over two weeks.
Surely that smoke reflected back a huge amount of heat that would otherwise given us even higher temperatures?
Correct me if I am wrong!
TB
ReplyDeleteI've heard that explanation, TB. I too reveled in seeing cumulus clouds this afternoon. Another day perhaps before the Pacific breezes again flush out our skies.
Trailblazer, that seems to be the effect here in the Okanagan.
ReplyDeletehttps://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/SmokeClouds/smoke_clouds.php
ReplyDeleteLooks like it does but not in a way I considered.
We have had very warm weather on Vancouver Island; I cannot imagine what it would be like to have been even warmer.
TB
I just popped outside for a late nite look, TB. There's plenty of cloud but, through the gaps, beautiful stars, loads of them. Let's hope we're finally returning to Pacific breezes and clear skies.
ReplyDeleteWe've just had a brief Prelude of our apocalyptic future here in BC. It looked to me like a typical Asian City here in Vancouver. In Asia they have permanent ABC clouds over their cities and much of the countryside. bad for the lungs but good for global warming. Imho we have already kicked off ' Runaway global warming' .... maybe Gaia is burning off the trees so something more drought resistant can grow back ... and it's keeping us cooler too.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMy ex and my daughter and son-in-law live in Vancouver and North Van respectively. They've kept me well informed of the smoke/smog issues over there. Much worse than anything we've experienced on the island but Vancouver's topography does a lot to worsen these problems, doesn't it? I haven't walked down to the waterfront yet but I hope to see the mainland clearly to a long distance when I do. Fingers crossed.