The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉
Main Topic: Boiling Brazil
Dear Diary. My alarm bells really went off yesterday when I spied the following message. It’s very rare to see a tweet with more than a million retweets, but this one did:
13.5M views. Why? It's winter in the SH. 2 days ago: "Brazil… exceptional heat wave with max temps of between 40°C and 45°C. All regions of the country will be affected and with historic marks. Heat will be so extreme that it will be dangerous and pose a risk to health & life." https://t.co/xZe8mGqPf2
— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) September 20, 2023
As of this morning we see a sprawling heat dome over the area:
Sao Paulo, South America’s most populous city, a megalopolis of about 11 million people, is expected to see maxes near 40°C the next few days.
My next question is what will happen here if this anomalous heat persists through the spring and summer to the Amazon? I do fear the worst. Next question. Has the world crossed a tipping point such that the Amazon burns, and we lose the lungs of the Earth? Yikes!
This new “fried egg” sculpture in Sao Paulo made to focus people on the climate crisis is quite fitting for thus week’s hot event there:
People take a picture of the “Art Eggcident” installation by Dutch artist Henk Hofstra at Faria Lima Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, September 18, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
All of this should spur us to work even harder to stop the use of fossil fuels. I’ll come back to this Brazilian and South American hot topic once we see more news.
Here are some other “ET’s” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Relentless heat in Southern Africa with record temperatures since weeks for before the autumn equinox.
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) September 20, 2023
Temperatures constantly close to 40C even at 1000m asl, like today:
39C Senaga,Zambia and 38C Letlhakane,Botswana.
In South Africa hot also on the coast with 38.1C at Mbazwana pic.twitter.com/0CFnj0kzRW
Relentless heat in the Middle East and Pakistan this September.
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) September 20, 2023
Yesterday Makka (Mecca) in Saudi Arabia had extremes of Tmin 34.2C Tmax 46.0C with a daily average of about 40C.
We are at WORLD RECORD levels for this time of the year.
Makkah is the world's hottest inhabited town. pic.twitter.com/BmcdqlnUCB
Fortunately, the heat wasn't as strong as expected today with only 1 record, but still very hot for Sep:
— Cameron H 🇦🇺 (@Hitchy04) September 20, 2023
Sydney AP 35.7c, breaks the 2000 record again, 0.2c below yesterday
Now a cool change, heat moves north. Borroloola forecast to get to 40c on Fri, ties record & 1st of season https://t.co/g3XvJBdDdB
Insane night temperatures in NSW,Australia
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) September 20, 2023
Records of warmest September nights
22.1 Montague Isl beaten by 3.4C,warmest night Apr-Dec. 0.9c below ALL TIME record!
22.1 Ulladulla
18.7 Gabo Isl
19.9 Jervis Bay and Orbost
15 Omeo
18.8 Combienbar
16.5 Green Cape
15.3 Khancoban https://t.co/t2wTo1LBOn
Extraordinary warm day also in New Zealand today with temperatures rising locally above 28C.
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) September 20, 2023
Records for September fell in some stations:
28.2 Orari
23.5 Oban (Stewart Island)
26.6 Balclutha
25.6 Tautuku (Catlins)
Records of highest Tmins are coming as well next night. https://t.co/JxVPVnw2f6
Here is more climate and weather news from Wednesday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)
Floods around the med were 50 times more likely because of climate chaos.
— Extinction Rebellion Global (@ExtinctionR) September 20, 2023
Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey & Libya from one storm. Who's next?#NoOneIsSafe #NowhereIsSafehttps://t.co/1buXUN8I9J
Climate change made the storm that devastated the Libyan city of Derna, killing thousands of people, up to 50 times more likely, experts say. https://t.co/JJtVeDlIl9
— Svein Tveitdal (@tveitdal) September 20, 2023
Fully remote workers could produce less than half the climate-warming emissions of people who spend their days in offices, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://t.co/jQNIWpbTCI
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 20, 2023
Nature-based solutions like mangroves & coral reefs can prevent coastal flooding and safeguard communities.@ORRAAnews' new Coastal Risk Index will help insurers and policymakers make informed decisions on coastal climate risk & cost-effective resilience.https://t.co/Zny4UocpRZ
— Special Presidential Envoy John Kerry (@ClimateEnvoy) September 20, 2023
The UN secretary-general says “the fossil fuel age has failed” https://t.co/hcGptWMIph via @climate
— Svein Tveitdal (@tveitdal) September 20, 2023
Declaring the "fossil fuel age has failed,” the UN secretary general called for phasing out oil and gas. World leaders don’t seem ready to rally behind that.
Think Big Oil is bad?
— Dr. Jonathan Foley (@GlobalEcoGuy) September 19, 2023
Wait until you learn about Big Beef and their greenwashing efforts.https://t.co/6QlXWMQY1w
Historic march to #EndFossilFuels with 600,000 people, in 60 countries and in 7 continents! 🤯
— Greenpeace International (@Greenpeace) September 19, 2023
It's crystal clear that governments across the globe must force fossil criminals to stop drilling and start paying.
Join the movement to #EndFossilCrimes ➡️ https://t.co/zUZA5VOciy pic.twitter.com/8JsvUMTT5D
Today’s News on Sustainable and Traditional Polluting Energy from Fossil Fuel:
Nice.
— Dr Paul Dorfman (@dorfman_p) September 20, 2023
'Renewables sail past 70% on Australia’s main grid, send coal to fresh lows.'https://t.co/uJBaYrSU5m
More from the Weather Department:
Big storm will form near the East Coast Friday into the weekend, but big questions on its exact track. Here's our latest briefing: https://t.co/r1oM5Su0eK
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) September 20, 2023
The Pacific Northwest and far Northern California could see their first significant storm of the year early next week as a potential bomb cyclone drives a strong atmospheric river into the region.
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) September 20, 2023
Details will change, but widespread rainfall of 1-3" appears possible across… pic.twitter.com/cKE0zAc3Vm
Wednesday 12z models coming in from https://t.co/3cvwpvVJ22. GFS/CMC still sniffing Tue/Wed next week here from our area coming off Africa now. Something to watch in the eastern Caribbean. EURO has been trending north and a curve but has bumped west. https://t.co/Hk3pbO7x8H pic.twitter.com/Ag5eMjNBpj
— Mike's Weather Page (@tropicalupdate) September 20, 2023
More on the Environment:
Scientists have only begun to uncover the extent of pollution from tires.
— Yale Environment 360 (@YaleE360) September 20, 2023
Research shows that particulate pollution from tires and brakes far exceeds pollution from tailpipes. Tires also release more volatile organic compounds.https://t.co/vxGEi9POH8
Elephants on the march across African borders as heat stress leads to fatalities https://t.co/sRsAZcpQny
— Svein Tveitdal (@tveitdal) September 20, 2023
Mortality rate grows as animals roam long distances and clash with local people in desperate search for water
As the temperature of rivers has risen because of climate change, oxygen levels in the water are falling, which is putting fish at risk https://t.co/nnTJ6H1qeY
— New Scientist (@newscientist) September 20, 2023
More on other science and the beauty of Earth and this universe:
Imagine looking out your window and seeing this JAW-DROPPING view of the Northern Lights! 🤩✈️
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) September 20, 2023
Photographer @DavidJonPhoto captured this yesterday while taking off from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. pic.twitter.com/4igCZosCXa
Wild video of Tuesday evening’s landspout west of Rush Center, Kansas.
— Chief Meteorologist Lisa Teachman (@LisaTeachman) September 20, 2023
Video courtesy: Jerry Lira @KSNNews @KSNStormTrack3 #kswx https://t.co/gch97nteSi pic.twitter.com/3FbegCn150