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 extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉
Main Topic: The American Meteorological Society Will Rescue Climate Science
Dear Diary. Before leaving the Weather Channel in 2014 I had been a member of the American Meteorological Society for well over a decade. That organization does great work to foster weather research and opportunities for young people who wish to have a career in association with meteorological science. It’s also helps to raise salaries for meteorologists but is not a union. Now during the first few days of Trump’s second term the AMS has been in siege mentality as hundreds of meteorologists have been laid off from the National Weather Service because of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
During the past forty years climate science has increasingly become married with meteorology. After all, increasing heatwaves, droughts, floods, and stronger hurricanes are all part of meteorology and climate change. The AMS declared that mankind primarily was the cause of global warming back in 2007:
Trump has pulled the rug out from under climate science by cutting off funds and firing people for the sixth climate assessment due out in 2026. So, the AMS is trying to rescue that along with the American Geophysical Union, which also produces a lot of climate science.
Here are more details from Dr. Marshal Shepherd writing for Forbes Magazine:
2 Major Science Organizations Unite For Vital Climate Collection
By Marshall Shepherd, Senior Contributor
May 02, 2025, 09:50am EDT
TOPSHOT – The sun is seen behind smoke above charred structures after the passage of the Palisades … More AFP via Getty Images
Every author working on a major U.S. climate report was recently dismissed. However, two major science organizations, the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union, are grabbing the baton and move the climate change science forward with a new “first of its kind science collection, according to an announcement Friday.
Why are these organizations stepping up?
The American Meteorological Society is the largest and oldest U.S. science and professional society focused on the atmospheric sciences. Founded in 1919 by Charles Franklin Brooks of the Blue Hill Observatory, I had the honor of serving as President of AMS over a decade ago. AMS hosts conferences, publishes scientific journals and serves as a hub for weather, climate, water, and related professionals, enthusiasts and students. The American Geophysical Union is a broader organization. Founded in 1917, its website says, “AGU is a global community supporting more than half a million advocates and professionals in the Earth and space sciences.” Its journals are also considered to be gold standards in our field. Each organization recently announced initiatives to assist scientists, professionals, and students as the navigate a changing federal landscape.
October 29 2012 National Hurricane Center Going Over The Next Advisory For Hurricane Sandy. (Photo by Michele Eve Sandberg/Corbis via Getty Images)Corbis via Getty Images
What is the National Climate Assessment?
In 2018, I wrote a “101” on the National Climate Assessment. The U.S. Global Change Research Program was created in 1989 by a Presidential Initiative issued by George H.W. Bush. A year later Congress passed the Global Change Research Act of 1990. Specific recommendations included the establishment of the USGCRP and a global (climate) change assessment report to Congress and the President every four years. As I wrote seven years ago, “By the way, I should mention that the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) had actually been proposed in President Reagan’s final budget.” To date, there have been five NCA reports (2000, 2009, 2014, and 2017/2018, 2023). Preliminary organization had begun on NCA6.
NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 24: Former President George H.W. Bush speaks during the opening session of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) September 24, 2008 in New York City. Former President Bill Clinton is hosting the fourth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), a gathering of politicians celebrities, philanthropists and business leaders grouped together to discuss pressing global issues. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Getty Images
So What Are AMS and AGU Doing?
Climate keeps going and so does research. As the policy levers turn, two of the most trusted science organizations are providing a pathway for scientists dismissed from NCA and other stakeholders to produce sound science and dissemination. In a joint press release, the organizations invited manuscripts for “a new, first-of-its-kind” special collection focused on climate change in the United States. This catalog of over 29 peer-reviewed journals covers all aspects of climate, including observations, projections, impacts, risks, and solutions.” The organizations emphasized that the new special collection is not a replacement for NCA.
AGU President Brandon Jones noted, “It’s incumbent on us to ensure our communities, our neighbors, our children are all protected and prepared for the mounting risks of climate change.” AMS President and Penn State Professor David Stensrud also weighed in. He said, “Our economy, our health, our society are all climate-dependent. While we cannot replace the NCA, we at AMS see it as vital to support and help expand this collaborative scientific effort for the benefit of the U.S. public and the world at large.”
Bernadette Woods Placky is Vice President for Engagement and Chief Meteorologist at Climate Central. The noted meteorologist who, directs their Climate Matters program, told me, “Science is the reason we know that the climate is changing, and advancing our understanding of those changes is essential to protecting lives and livelihoods. This collaboration between AGU and AMS, two leading scientific organizations, creates a pathway to support critical climate research—research that helps communities prepare for increasing weather extremes, rising sea levels, worsening air quality, and growing threats to our food costs.”
TOPSHOT – The Manhattan skyline is seen across the Hudson river past a pedestrian walking along the waterfront in West New York, New Jersey, on June 8, 2023, as smoke haze from Canadian wildfires blankets the area. Smoke from Canadian wildfires continued to shroud US cities in a noxious haze Thursday, forcing flight delays and cancellations to outdoor activities as environmental groups called for urgent action to tackle climate change. (Photo by Leonardo Munoz / AFP) (Photo by LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website.
Here are more “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:
Here is More Climate News from Saturday:
(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.)