Bloomberg (July 25)
“The world’s oceans experienced a staggering amount of warming in 2023, as vast marine heat waves affected 96% of their surface, breaking records for intensity, longevity and scale…. That could mark a turning point in the way the oceans behave, potentially signaling a tipping point after which average sea temperatures will be reset higher and some ecosystems may not recover.”
Tags: 2023, 96, Ecosystems, Intensity, Longevity, Marine heat waves, Oceans, Records, Scale, Sea temperatures, Staggering, Surface, Tipping point, Warming, World
Washington Post (July 25)
“Companies are reshaping operations to cope with a changing climate” as climate risks also gain more prominence investment calculations. The month of June was the warmest since records began in 1850” so the “global steam bath” helps explain “why investors, regulators and credit-rating agencies are scrutinizing corporate plans for unrecognized climate risks.”
Tags: 1850, Climate risks, Corporate plans, Credit rating agencies, Investment calculations, Investors, June, Records, Regulators, Scrutinizing, Steam bath
Wall Street Journal (June 15)
“Despite some CEO grumbling, businesses have thrived under Biden. Stocks are near records, corporate profits are up strongly, inflation has come down and the economy has so far managed a soft landing despite aggressive rate increases from the Federal Reserve. Industries like energy that appeared to be at risk from Biden’s policies have thrived.”
Tags: Biden, Businesses, CEO, Corporate profits, Economy, Energy, Grumbling, Inflation, Records, Soft landing Fed, Stocks, Thrived
Washington Post (April 19)
“Earth’s record hot streak might be a sign of a new climate era.” Existing models are coming up short as scientists struggle “to explain how the planet could have exceeded previous temperature records by as much as half a degree Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) last fall.” Efforts over the next quarter or so may determine “whether Earth’s climate has undergone a fundamental shift — a quantum leap in warming that is confounding climate models and stoking ever more dangerous weather extremes.”
Tags: Climate, Climate models, Confounding, Dangerous, Earth, Era, Existing models, Hot streak, Quantum leap, Records, Scientists, Struggle, Temperature, Warming, Weather extremes
Washington Post (April 1)
“Earth has a long-running fever that shows little signs of easing. The planet has set high temperature records in each of the last nine months, and March is poised to become the 10th. Multiple locations around the world observed unprecedented heat on the month’s final weekend, as if to put an exclamation mark on this exceptional run of warmth.”
Tags: Earth, Exceptional, Fever, Heat, High, March, Planet, Records, Temperature, Unprecedented, Weekend, World
Washington Post (August 22)
“As a heat dome promises to smash more records this week across swaths of the Midwest, South and Southeast. The country can expect that extreme heat, which already kills more people than hurricanes, tornadoes and floods combined, will only worsen in the coming summers.” Cities can do little “to reduce the intensity of hurricanes” or change the path of tornadoes, but they can intervene to “reduce heat-wave intensity.” Almost “80 percent of the U.S. population lives” in cities where “the urban heat island effect can increase temperatures by 8 degrees.” Measures like requiring “reflective building materials, such as cool roofs;” and “increasing green spaces” can lower “peak temperatures by as much as 2 to 9 degrees Celsius.”
Tags: Cool roofs; Green spaces, Extreme, Floods, Heat dome, Heat wave, Hurricanes, Intensity, Intervene, Records, Reflective building materials, Summers, Temperatures, Tornadoes, U.S., Urban heat island
Washington Post (August 3)
“The world just got its first real taste of what life is like at 1.5 degrees Celsius.” July was far and away the hottest month ever recorded. Previously, “the world had briefly passed over 1.5 degrees for a few times” but always during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, which muted “impacts on the largest population centers. This was the first month where temperatures were that far above preindustrial levels and most of the world’s population was under hot, summer conditions.”
Tags: 1.5 degrees, Hot, Hottest, Impacts, July, Northern Hemisphere, Population centers, Preindustrial levels, Records, Summer conditions, Temperatures, Winter
The Guardian (July 26)
“Every one of Japan’s 47 prefectures posted a population drop in 2022, while the total number of Japanese people fell by nearly 800,000,” marking “two new unwelcome records for a nation sailing into uncharted demographic territory, but on a course many other countries are set to follow.”
Tags: 2022, Demographic, Drop, Japan, Population, Prefectures, Records, Uncharted, Unwelcome
Newsweek (April 30)
“Familiar alarm bells sounded in Japan this month as year-end population figures and new projections combined to paint an uncertain future for Asia’s No. 2 economy.” The latest figures show a “12th consecutive annual decline” with the nation’s population standing “at 124.94 million for the year to October, a decrease of over half a million people from 2021.” Moreover, “the working population, aged 15 to 64, fell to 74.2 million, and those above 65 reached 36.23 million—both respective records.” Japan is approaching the “point of no return.”
Tags: 124.94 million, Alarm bells, Asia, Decline, Decrease, Japan, No. 2 economy, Point of no return, Population, Projections, Records, Uncertain future
BBC (November 15)
“Britain’s stock market has lost its position as Europe’s most-valued,” marking “the first time Paris has overtaken London since records began…. The combined value of British shares is now around $2.821 trillion (£2.3 trillion), while France’s are worth around $2.823 trillion.” Factors behind the shift include “a weak pound, fears of recession in the UK and surging sales at French luxury goods makers.”
Tags: $2.823 trillion, Britain, Europe, Fears, First, France, London, Most-valued, Overtaken, Paris, Recession, Records, Shares, Stock market, Surging sales, UK, Weak pound
