Oh Crap, Major UN Climate Study Finds
The United Nations (UN) has a new report out that says what many of us already know in our bones: The world is on fucking fire, and it’s going to get worse unless we act. The latest iteration of this warning comes in the form of the “United in Science” report, which brings together all … Continued
U.S. Air Conditioning Use Could Surge Nearly 60 Percent by 2050
It’s no secret that it’s getting hotter and hotter outside. On Sunday, Death Valley hit 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius), which is an extreme example of a notable trend. The rising heat is also driving up the demand for air conditioning, and the surge will only become more dramatic as the climate crisis persists. … Continued
California’s Having Rolling Blackouts Because It’s Just So Damn Hot
Hundreds of thousands of Californians were left in the dark Friday evening after triple-digit temperatures drove up power demands, leading grid operators to declare a statewide Stage 3 emergency for the first time in nearly two decades. With scores of people cranking up the AC to stay cool, electricity usage overwhelmed existing supply, prompting the … Continued
Miami Is Experiencing Its Hottest April Ever
South Florida is dealing with a record-breaking heat wave. It’s only April, but temperatures have been rivaling those more typical of summer. On Monday, Miami reached a high of 97 degrees Fahrenheit—an all-time high April reading for the region. The city had never before reached that level of heat prior to May 28. “If we … Continued
Russia Just Smashed Its Record for Hottest Winter
Russia is normally considered a bastion for cold. But it just experienced its warmest winter since records started some 130 years ago. And we can all blame climate change. Large parts of Russia were anywhere from 6 to 8 degrees Celsius (7.2 to 12.4 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than normal, according to data kept by Russia’s … Continued
Uh Oh, Antarctica Just Set a New Heat Record
It’s positively balmy in Antarctica. The National Meteorological Service of Argentina announced on Twitter that its Esperanza weather station recorded a new high for the continent: 18.3 degrees Celsius (64.9 degrees Fahrenheit). The previous temperature record for Antarctica was set on March 24, 2015, when this same weather station recorded 17.5 degrees Celsius (63.5 degrees … Continued
A Hotter Climate Will Kill Americans in Unexpected Ways, Study Finds
The world is gonna get a lot warmer. The unusually warm winter weekend that just ended for those of us in the Northeast is a reminder of what that’ll look like. Sure, it was kinda nice to spend some time outside in a t-shirt in January. But a new study has found that warmer days … Continued
2019 Was the Second-Hottest Year on Record
If you lived on Earth last year, you knew it was freaking hot. Now the scientists have confirmed it. In fact, 2019 was the second hottest year on record, according to data the European Copernicus Climate Change Service released Wednesday. “2019 has been another exceptionally warm year, in fact, the second warmest globally in our … Continued
The World Just Had Another Month of Record Heat
The summer of shocking global heat has continued into the fall. New data released by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union’s climate agency, shows that last month tied for the hottest September on record. This adds to the stunning string of record or near-record heat the world has been dealing with since … Continued
Here’s When Using a Fan Will Actually Make You Hotter
Electric fan fans are in for some bittersweet news. A new study out Monday suggests that while fans can help people cool down on hot and humid days, in hot and arid environments they may actually make you more uncomfortable—and may even be unsafe. The researchers, based at the University of Sydney in Australia, recruited … Continued
What’s the Hottest Object in the Universe?
One hundred degrees might seem hot, when you’re sweating through your shirt in July—but on a cosmic scale it barely registers. The Sun itself is over 15 million degrees; and in a hottest-object contest, the Sun wouldn’t even rank. Scientists, in fact, have produced temperatures many times that, right here on Earth (in terms of … Continued
New Research Could Reveal Which Parts of Your City Swelter the Most
Anyone who’s spent time in a city in the summer knows that these bastions of blacktop get uncomfortably hot compared with the surrounding countryside. But even within a city’s bounds, some neighborhoods swelter more than others, and that can have a big effect on who’s most threatened by heatwaves. Which is why citizen scientists are … Continued
Can You Get Sick From Air Conditioning?
At the peak of summer, when just walking to and from the corner store necessitates a shower and a change of clothes, air-conditioning can seem almost too good to be true. It is one of the few staples of modernity without severe and readily apparent downsides: all it does, or all it seems to do, … Continued
Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Leave a Giant Parabolic Mirror in Your Car on a Sunny Day
We all know you shouldn’t leave pets, infants, or the elderly in your car on a sunny summer day. But giant parabolic mirrors also deserve a spot on that list, a lesson a teacher in residence at a San Francisco science museum learned the hard way last week when he accidentally melted his Subaru Outback’s … Continued