After more than four weeks of very hot temperatures here in the Pacific Northwest the wind has shifted and we are getting some much cooler air off the Pacific ocean. Even that air is not as cool as it used to be as the Pacific ocean is not as cool as it used to be. In a post a few days ago, Hell on Earth, I talked about nuclear weapons but suggested that uranium and plutonium were not the greatest threat to existence but it was carbon. The planet is on track to have the warmest year ever.
Last month was the hottest June on record globally, setting yet another in a string of temperature records, federal scientists said.
A Monday report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also concluded that land and water surface temperatures each hit a new record in June, and the first half of 2015 was also the hottest on record.
The average temperature across all of the world’s land and ocean surfaces in June was 61.48 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest since federal records began in 1880.
It beat the previous record by 0.22 degrees Fahrenheit, which was set only last year.
June is the third month this year to break its monthly record, after March and May, NOAA said in its report.
The other months of the year were not far behind. January and February were the second hottest on record and April was the fourth.
The first half of 2015 also set a record as the hottest since 1880, beating the record set in 2010, according to the NOAA.
Additionally, the 12 months that ended in June now comprise the hottest 12-month period in the NOAA’s records.
The drought followed by torrential rains in Southern California shows us what global warming is all about – weather extremes. This years El Niño is predicted to be one of the strongest ever which will impact the entire planet. There will be fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic ocean but more and stronger ones in the Pacific. The ice is melting faster than predicted in Greenland and Antarctica which means that sea level will rise faster than predicted. A large portion of the population lives in areas that will be submerged. We are already seeing this in south Florida and New York city won’t be far behind.
While it has cooled off here in the Pacific Northwest there is still no sign of rain. It is a tinder box here and though I love the forest of Douglas fir and wild cherry a few feet from my house it does leave me nervous. So how long will it be before congress recognizes the real threat is not uranium but carbon. Not anytime soon I fear. They are owned, both Ds and Rs, by Israel and the fossil fuel industry.