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Record-Setting Drought Intensifies Parched California
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on July 31st, 2014
Climate Central: The relentless heat that has plagued the western half of the country this summer has ratcheted up California's terrible drought once again, bringing it to record levels. More than half of the state is in "exceptional' drought, the highest category recognized by the U.S. Drought Monitor, which released its latest update on Thursday.
The progression of the drought in California through the spring and summer of 2014, as the two highest categories, extreme and exceptional drought, grew.
"The heat...
California Sets Sizzling Record for 2014 So Far
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on July 16th, 2014
Climate Central: California just finished the hottest first half year on record, a period going back 120 years, according to the national climate overview for June released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The statewide average temperature for the period was 58°F, or 4.8°F above the 20th century average. That bests the previous warmest January-June in 1934 by 1.1°F -- a substantial difference, said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist with NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
The...
California’s Drought Just Got a Little Worse
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on June 19th, 2014
Climate Central: Just when it seemed like California's drought couldn't get any worse, it did: A staggering one third of the state is now in the worst stage of drought.
The latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor, released Thursday, showed the amount of the state in "Exceptional Drought' -- the highest category -- expanding to about 33 percent from 25 percent. The increase came not because of a lack of rainfall, as the state is in its dry season, but because drought experts and local officials are getting...
Refreezing Water Causes Weird Warps in Greenland’s Ice
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on June 15th, 2014
Climate Central: The flat, glistening, white expanse of the Greenland Ice Sheet, stretching out across hundreds of thousands of square miles, appears placid, unchanging ... boring even. But this tranquil surface belies the turmoil taking place below, at the base of the ice sheet. There, scientists have discovered sections of ice up to a kilometer thick and tens of kilometers long where meltwater has refrozen to the base of the ice sheet, setting off a dynamic process that causes the layers of ice to build up over...
Global warming playing a role in Australia’s record heat
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on June 7th, 2014
Climate Central: On the heels of the warmest 12-month period in Australia's recorded history, parts of the country experienced an unusually strong stretch of warm autumn weather in May. Global warming has aided the string of record-breaking temperatures, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and other scientists, and will continue to increase the odds that new records will be set in the future.
Maximum temperature anomalies (compared to 1961--1990 average) across Australia from May 8 to 26, 2014....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Global warming playing a role in Australia’s record heatHow Will We Know When El Niño Finally Arrives?
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on June 3rd, 2014
Climate Central: El Niño, El Niño, El Niño. Because of the implications it has for weather around the world, it's been the talk of the meteorological and climatological community since the first signs it might be developing emerged back in the winter. It's like the Marcia Brady of climate phenomena.
For example, hurricane forecasters expect it to tamp down on tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin this season, while drought-weary officials in California hope it will finally bring them some rain. El Niño could...
Satellite Images Reveal Scope of Massive Balkans Flooding
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on May 27th, 2014
Climate Central: The full, devastating scale of the downpour-driven flooding that tore across the Balkans in mid-May is evident in newly released images from a NASA satellite.
This image, taken by the Advanced Land Imager on NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellie, shows a close-up of the town of Vidovice, Bosnia and Herzegovina, surrounded by and inundated with water from the Sava River.
Torrential rains fell across parts of Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina beginning on May 13, with some spots recording...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Satellite Images Reveal Scope of Massive Balkans FloodingThe Climate Context for ‘Unprecedented’ Balkans Flooding
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on May 20th, 2014
Climate Central: The torrential rains and catastrophic floods that raged through parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia were unprecedented in the historical record of the region, going back 120 years. But extreme weather events like this one are something communities may have to contend with more and more as the planet warms, experts say.
The flooding event began on May 13 when an area of low pressure developed as warm, moist air from over the Mediterranean Sea clashed with colder air from the north....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The Climate Context for ‘Unprecedented’ Balkans FloodingGreenland Glaciers More Susceptible to Melt Than Thought
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on May 18th, 2014
Climate Central: Greenland's glaciers are more vulnerable to melting by warm ocean waters than previously thought, a new study of the topography of the bedrock under the ice finds. This clearer picture of the underpinnings of the miles-thick ice sheet, along with other recent studies that suggest parts of Earth's polar regions are not as stable as once thought, could mean that current projections of future sea level rise are too low.
On April 8, 2011, NASA's Operation IceBridge flew a mission to coastal areas...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Greenland Glaciers More Susceptible to Melt Than Thought100 percent of California in highest stages of drought
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on May 16th, 2014
Climate Central: It might not seem possible, but California's drought just got worse. According to Thursday's release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, 100 percent of the state is now in one of the three worst stages of drought.
As of May 15, California was completely in the three highest stages of drought, severe, extreme and exceptional.
The latest report, which indicated that rain had improved conditions in parts of Texas and the Plains states, revealed that California got no relief. In fact, a heat wave likely...