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July Was World's Hottest Month on Record, Climate Scientists Say 132

Posted by msmash from the going-getting-worse dept.
July has been confirmed as the hottest month on record globally after several heatwaves in parts of Europe, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). From a report: The global average temperature was 16.95C last month, surpassing the previous record set in 2019 by a substantial 0.33C. Temperatures exceeded 40C last week in several countries across Europe including Greece, France, Italy and Spain. Wildfires forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists from several Greek islands including Rhodes. There were also high temperatures in South American countries, despite it being winter there.

July is estimated to have been about 1.5C warmer than the average for 1850-1900, according to C3S, and 0.72C warmer than the 1991-2020 average. Dr Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, said: "We just witnessed global air temperatures and global ocean surface temperatures set new all-time records in July. These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events. Antarctic sea ice has also been at record lows this July, freezing less than in any other winter since satellites began observations in 1979. Further reading: Iran Declares 2-Day Public Holiday on Extreme Heat.
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July Was World's Hottest Month on Record, Climate Scientists Say More

July Was World's Hottest Month on Record, Climate Scientists Say

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  • And the coldest July of the rest of your life (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dmay34 ( 6770232 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @11:46AM (#63753460)

    "It wasn't us, I swear!"
    - the last Millennial presidential candidate in 2052 trying to convince voters that his generation was not the cause of their suffering.

    • Re:And the coldest July of the rest of your life (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jhoegl ( 638955 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @12:27PM (#63753606)
      Honestly, you cant blame millennials. You can for sure blame boomer generation (1930s-1950s) and all those after. GenX had a chance to make changes and blew it.

      But if you really want to blame anyone specific, blame oligarchs. They make money on keeping things status quo. Change costs money, and they chose to instead spend that money on politicians, publications, and scientists. Give someone enough money, they will say whatever you want.

      And, can you blame them? The oligarchs continue to squeeze people so that they become desperate, making them sell their voice for access to food, homes, and anything out of reach of even middle class people.

      The laws supporting people putting their retirements into the stock market, for easier manipulation, has further corrupted people to desire status quo over long lasting improvements, because retired people dont give a shit. They want their money, to live like they deserve everything, and screw everyone else.

      Welcome to today.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by techno-vampire ( 666512 )
        ...boomer generation (1930s-1950s)...

        No. Boomers were born during the "baby boom" that lasted from 1946 to 1964. Those born from 1928 through 1941 are part of the Silent Generation. Next time, do a little bit of trivial research instead of shoving both of your feet into your mouth. Again.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        GenX had a chance to make changes and blew it.

        No, we didn't. The baby boomers are still in control of the government. They have a lot of votes.

        • Re:And the coldest July of the rest of your life (Score:5, Insightful)

          by BishopBerkeley ( 734647 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @01:48PM (#63753898) Journal
          As a GenXer, I do think we blew it. Collectively, we hardly put up a fight.

          • Welp, nothing we could have done... But complain.

            We probably should have been called the Nihilist generation instead of Gen X. The X makes us sound cool, and we weren't

          • Baby boomers outnumbered Gen X so much that it didn't matter whether you fought or not. Nothing you did would have amounted to a hill of beans. That's different now because you can form a coalition with Gen m&z. Even now he won't still have quite the votes to make any significant changes but what you can do is make sure that your state and national governments remain a democracy for the next 6 to 8 years until the baby boomers age out of voting.

            Once that happens yeah, it's up to you and the kids to

          • As a GenXer, I do think we blew it. Collectively, we hardly put up a fight.

            What resources did you have to make any changes with? Your voice? The media was The Word. Your money? Unless you were born wealthy, you were never able to accumulate enough wealth to make your voice heard.

            Were you a factory owner? Maybe you could have done something. A drop of water in an entire ocean. Many of us gave a drop and now we are shamed for not giving more. LOL. What the individual wants does not matter. It is the leaders who are supposed to be making the changes and the process of leadership is c

            • That's it. That's the cynicism with which my generation emasculated and disenfranchised itself. Cynicism is just a lame justification for inaction. FWIW, in addition to cynicism, gen-x disenfranchised itself by buying into the "conservative" point of view.

              • Can you justify your claim of cynicism? It is trivial for me to prove the lack of control of resources to cause change for the entire planet.

                • Black people persevered through lynchings to win the right not to be murdered, and they continue to fight, as do women for equal rights. Clearly, we have overcome greater obstacles than the ones you cite. Ergo, youâ(TM)re cynical.

                  • Really? You want to go down THAT path?

                    Okay. What effect have you personally had on Climate Change? What did you do and what were the results? The most you can do is cover what you personally do. You could have 'some' effect on others, but ultimately, they are their own person and do what they want.

                    I do not like that Russia invaded Ukraine. Do you see me having any effect on that either? Is that Cynicism or Realism?

                    What exactly are you trying to imply here? That I am responsible for Climate Change? I do my p

                    • Just trying to give you perspective. Thatâ(TM)s all. But if examining your perspective is too disconcerting, then you can continue to disengage solely to prove your powerlessness. If all you see are problems, then you are the problem. You would be well advised to think in terms of solutions. If you donâ(TM)t want to do that really hard work, then ask yourself what the point of life is.

                    • Just trying to give you perspective.

                      What?

                      But if examining your perspective is too disconcerting

                      It is not too disconcerting. I am curious what your point is and mildly frustrated at your inability to make it.

                      You would be well advised to think in terms of solutions.

                      Nice platitude there. Back in Reality, what solutions do you have because I have zero. I have lots of ideas, but I neither have the political nor economic capability to make it happen, nor do I have enough 'pull' with any of my representatives to get anything more than a form letter that doesn't even address what I initially spoke about.

                      If you donÃ(TM)t want to do that really hard work, then ask yourself what the point of life is.

                      Ah. So your point is to be a dick. Got it. Have a nice d

                    • Vote for the right people. Advocate for the right things. Stay engaged. There isnâ(TM)t much more to do. And, grow up. Stop asking strangers for approval. If you think you have it all figured out, move along.
      • All of which arises out of the fact that they do not pay taxes. Consequently, the middle class and the poor have to pick up the slack, and the uber rich have so much money from the unpaid taxes that they keep buying whatever is available to buy. It works because they now practically have their own infrastructure, too, so they don't care whether the government invests in infrastructure.

      • Re:And the coldest July of the rest of your life (Score:5, Insightful)

        by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @02:00PM (#63753940) Homepage Journal

        I blame myself for not overthrowing the oligarchy years ago when I had the spirit and energy to do so.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Moryath ( 553296 )

        Oligarchs... Change costs money, and they chose to instead spend that money on politicians, publications, and scientists

        You mean the same scientists who have been telling us that climate change is real, and that humanity has needed to make changes in our energy usage patterns, deforestation patterns, habitat destruction patterns, and greenhouse gas emissions, for decades?

        Weird flex there. Maybe you failed basic logic?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jhoegl ( 638955 )
          Im referencing those that decided to go against the facts and logic presented by climate scientists in order to make money and give people who didnt want to change, cause to respond.

          Much like the COVID deniers, which would seem a logical point to make. But you interpret what you will.

      • GenX had a chance to make changes and blew it.

        Maybe, just maybe, it is not about the generation you belong to but what you personally have control over. The only effect I could have had on all of this is to kill myself. There is absolutely zero I could have done otherwise to affect/effect any of this. So why are you blaming entire generations? You sounds like those folks who say, "millennials are killing the diamond business". No. No they are not. They simply do not have enough money to waste on stupid diamonds.

    • It wasn't, it was boomers (Score:5, Insightful)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @01:01PM (#63753734)
      But nice try there. Boomers are the ones that created a political and economic system that requires endless rapacious growth. Their parents were trying to move away from it and then they put the Reagan/Thatcher double combo in charge and have kept them and other's like them in charge since.

      One of two things is going to happen in the next 6-8 years. One way or another the boomers will stop voting. There's an age, around 72 or so, where you "age out" of voting. Nursing home age basically. Boomers are 6-8 years away from that.

      When that happens if we're still a democracy we'll get a new new deal. Go look up the car free community in Arizona. That'll spread everywhere. Culture War issues will go away. Gen M&Z see right through them. Declining birth rates will continue and make young people into valuable and well treated commodities. We'll start moving to that Star Trek Socialist Utopia we were promised 50 years ago before the boomers decided "Greed is Good".

      Or not. Look up "Project 2025". It's a plan from the Republican backed Heritage Foundation for the next GOP president to seize control of the Department of Justice & State Legislatures. The GOP is currently blocking all military appointments in the Senate, this forced the Senate to abdicate it's oversight of the Army moving that power into the executive branch. That is not an accident.

      So there's a good chance we won't be a Democracy in 8 years. Biden will probably win in 2024, but American voters are fickle and they might put a Republican in charge in 2028 for no other reason than "it's time for a change". If that happens Project 2025 goes into effect and we become like Russia & China, a Kleptocratic dictatorship.

      Nobody wants to hear this. Especially boomers and older Gen Xers who are planning to vote for it because they enjoy getting their buttons pushed by Fox News. I've lost track of the number of boomers who've told me they watch that crap because it's entertaining. Some of the start out as Democrats, but after 6 months to a year of Fox News it worms their way into their brains and before I know it they're sucking on Qanon. Look up "The Brainwashing of My Dad". That shit works.

      So it's 50/50. We're at a crossroads, where we'll decide if we become a dystopian fascist hellscape serving the needs of George Carlin's "Owners" or a nice little Democratic Socialist Utopia. And boomers want the fascism. They're old, confused, angry, bitter and in pain all the time no matter how many pills medicare give them. They're gonna try taking that out on their kids and grand kids. The little shits never visit anyway.

      • I don't think it's strictly a boomer problem. From the dawn of civilization, humanity has sought to expand, expand, expand - and if you doubt that, just ask Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan. It just so happens that we're very, very good at it now because we have advanced technology. If the industrial revolution happened in the days of the Roman Empire they would have been screwing up the planet, too. Always wanting more is a human nature problem, not specific to any particular generation.

        • until very, very recently they outnumbers Gen XM&Z combined. They've also put in place a wide variety of laws, regulations and rules designed to suppress the vote of younger voters.

          Boomers want all the respect that comes with being in charge and none of the responsibility. When you point out that they make all the important political decisions, and that if the world's a mess it's the people in charge what did it, they get very defensive very fast.

          As for "always wanting more", that's "Greed is Go

          • Eventually the boomers are going to be replaced by millenials but I doubt that the millenials will be any better than the boomers. Millenials still love a steady stream of new electronics and products regardless of the effect this has on the economy. It's going to take a big perspective change across ALL demographics if there's going to be a shift in what's actually happening.

            • all the money is going to the top [time.com]. Our heathcare system is sucking the boomers dry, so they'll leave behind nothing, with all that wealth transferred to a handful of major stockowners if the private equity firms that own 80% of our healthcare system (which ironically is far, far more centralized than any of the "government" systems abroad).

              Now, politically that could happen, but if we're not a democracy when it does then it's irrelevant. Until his stupid war chased all the young people out of the countr

          • OK Boomer!

            (Sorry, could not resist, haha)

    • What do you expect when you've turned off an "air conditioner" [slashdot.org] that was, just from sulfur reflectivity enhancement of ship exhaust generated clouds alone, cooling things enough to eliminate a third of the CO2 absorbed heat?

      It's just sinking in to the general media cycle now. But we've known for months that, over the last couple years, the substantial COOLING effects of dust and certain chemical emissions from transportation and industry, especially from cargo ship and airline exhaust, had been reduced and

      • A third? NOT EVEN CLOSE.

        • A third? NOT EVEN CLOSE.

          Perhaps I wasn't clear. I'm talking about a third of "the warming effect of human carbon emissions", not a third of all CO2 absorbed heat, and the portion of the atmosphere over "the shipping corridors", not the entire surface of the planet (but a nontrivial fraction of it).

          From the linked article:

          By dramatically reducing the number of ship tracks, the planet has warmed up faster, several new studies have found. That trend is magnified in the Atlantic, where maritime traffic is part

    • It wasn't anybody, or it was everybody.

      Just read Bill Gates' book on Climate Change. If you believe in it at all, you have to know it is not just the fun stuff that we went to with our cars and polluted the air with CO2, it was also work, school, and all the other necessaries. It is also making cement, which releases huge amounts of CO2, as well as making steel, which also releases huge amounts of CO2. Of course there is the meat industry, where ruminants eat grasses we can't digest and turn them into

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
        Your premise is wrong as up to 1750 the amount of CO2 produced by humans was within the ability of natural carbon sinks to absorb and 18th-century societies worldwide were well beyond the stone age apart from some isolated groups with small populations. We now have technology that will allow us to reduce our carbon intensity dramatically, although it probably is a close-run thing to determine if we can reduce all activities such as concrete production and so on to the extent that we are back within that abi

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
        You are right that having sufficiently abundant energy might allow capture of CO2 - that whole paragraph is on the right track. We might have to do with overbuilding wind, etc., and a way to then use the excess rather than wait on fusion. Excess capacity deals with the intermittency issue to a fair degree and even without start-stop capture on an hourly basis there might be periods of weeks of excess to run capture processes. But fussion where there is excess over nightly needs is another option, although t

  • We have a serious problem here (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JoshuaZ ( 1134087 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @12:12PM (#63753546) Homepage
    We cannot definitely identify a specific month being hot due to climate change, but it looks likely, and the general trend of many temperature records being broken around the globe should be concerning. At this point, pretty much no matter what happens we're going to have some pretty serious climate related issues. However, every little bit of CO2 we avoid putting out lessons the size of those problems while also giving us more time to make adjustments and take steps to either mitigate damage or to do more research into geoengineering if that proves necessary. So what can you do to help?

    There are three major categories you can help out with, personal, political and charitable.

    In terms of personal activity, you can take steps to reduce one's own carbon footprint. Eating less meat is an example, but there are many other things also. Installing solar panels on a home, reducing how much air conditioning was uses in the summer or reducing the heating in the winter help. Adding insulation to houses helps with that also. One can also drive less or even better not have a car, and try to use public transit and the like. Of course, many people do not have that as an option simply because where they live or other life obligations. So if one does need a car, then when one gets a new one, trying to get an electric car can help a lot. Only a small fraction of grid power needs to be from non-fossil fuel options for EVs to produce much less CO2 than conventional cars, and right now in the US, that applies almost everywhere with Wyoming and West Virginia being the only obvious major exceptions. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/28/climate/how-electricity-generation-changed-in-your-state-election.html [nytimes.com]. If one is installing new heating or upgrading, consider strongly getting a heat pump system. They are not that expensive now in many places, and the modern ones work well even in pretty cold climates. All of these things do not just reduce CO2 but they save you money.

    Political activity means supporting parties and candidates who will help push for policies which will help deal with climate change, both by reducing CO2 and by taking steps to mitigate climate impact. Who this means varies a lot from country to country, but right now in the US, this generally means supporting Democrats and their candidates. The Democrats are not great on many aspects of climate change, and there is a subset of the party especially on the extreme left end which is unfortunately against nuclear power, but by and large the party is has many politicians taking major steps. The recent Inflation Reduction Act https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bidens-green-energy-law-is-turning-out-to-be-huge-201035230.html [yahoo.com] is succeeding both in helping the economy while adding a lot of green power. There used to be Republicans one could point to who were concerned about climate, and some of them like Christie Todd Whitman were really good about nuclear power. But by and large people like Whitman and others with similar concerns like Arnold Schwarzenegger have been largely pushed out of the party as it currently stands. This does *not* mean voting for any Democratic candidate. Some of them, especially some local ones can be actively counterproductive on climate related issues, especially if they support NIMBYish approaches to housing, since denser housing is an important way of reducing CO2 from car commuting. But this by and large is the direction that support needs to go in.

    The third category is charitable. There are multiple different charities which can help here. Everybody Solar https://everybodysolar.org/ [everybodysolar.org] buys solar panels for nonprofits like homeless shelters and science museums. The Solar Electric Light Fund https://www.self.or [self.org]

    • In terms of personal activity, you can take steps to reduce one's own carbon footprint. Eating less meat is an example

      So I am to forgo a nutritionally dense meal for one that is less nutritionally dense and requires excessive amounts of carbon based activities (fuel, fertilizer, etc)?

      A cow wanders around the land and eats plants that grow naturally. The only emission that is concerning is the fart.

      And that is supposed to be more carbon intensive than tilling up the soil (with machines), planting seeds (with machines), fertilizing the soil (with machines), harvesting the crops (with machines), etc?

      Take your civilization and

      • Hmm? Nutrition density of nonmeat diets can be as high as with meat diets. And no, a typical cow is not just wandering around eating grass, but is getting a large amount of grain https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/grass-fed-vs-grain-fed-beef [healthline.com]. In fact, in terms of per a calorie, the amount of tilling and land use a cow uses is far higher than a human eating the same amount of grain based products. We have actual data on what this sort of thing looks like. See e.g. https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/en [bbvaopenmind.com]

      • If you would read a bit up, you would know that cows in your country do not just walk around on grass and eat it ...

        And that is supposed to be more carbon intensive than tilling up the soil (with machines), planting seeds (with machines), fertilizing the soil (with machines), harvesting the crops (with machines), etc?
        Actually yes. Especially if you would read a bit up and realize: roughly 50% of all plants farmed, harvested and eaten: are eaten by: cows. Oki, I exaggerated. Not only cows, lets call it: live

        • If you would read a bit up, you would know that cows in your country do not just walk around on grass and eat it ...

          I was driving through Southern California, somewhere near Hemet. I smelled a terrible odor. For about 15 minutes, the smell kept growing until my eyes were watering and I could barely breathe. I eventually passed a "farm" with cattle penned in so tightly that they could not really even move. Thousands of them. Not a blade of grass to be seen anywhere. I smelled this monstrosity from 17 miles away and there was a multi-million dollar home sitting in the middle of all of this stench and misery.

          I have driven t

  • The hottest month SO FAR (Score:5, Funny)

    by jsepeta ( 412566 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @12:13PM (#63753550) Homepage

    https://media.tenor.com/SnPcwD... [tenor.com]

  • I didn't even get a tan.
  • It would have prevented climate change. Get out of the way you antinuclear fucks.
    • What a staggering ignorance of American NIMBYism. Set the example. Volunteer your state for the next 10 nuclear plants. Go for it.
      • I am. As loudly and as often as I can. And i have lectured multiple elected officials about nuclear energy. In fact I want Calpers and Calstrs to divest from fossil fuels and fund new nuclear power plants.
        • Thatâ(TM)s commendable. Sadly, these huge funds want profitable projects.

        • Lol, the guy who has not the singles clue about nuclear energy, who does not even know how a plant in principle works: has lectured multiple elected officials about nuclear energy. ??? Seriously?

          Seriously? You probably have harassed them with stupid emails, like you harass us here on /. but you: do not qualify to _lecture_ anyone.

          I suggest to get a dictionary: read up what "to lecture" means.
          Then, I suggest to get a book about physics: and read up about nuclear energy.

          You probably meant: "preach", giving on

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Far too late, far too expensive and far too obsolete tech. Seriously, you should be ashamed for still trying to push this failed technology.

      • You sound like a climate change denier. First they said climate change wasn't real. Then they said it wasn't manmade. Now they are saying it is too late to do anything about it.

    • It would have prevented climate change. Get out of the way you antinuclear fucks.

      No. No it would not have. It would have reduced the effects, but it would not have prevented it. Generation of energy is indeed a constant pressure; however, manufacturing and distributing all of the junk that people buy is still the dominant way that we are negatively affecting the planet. Funko Pops are a perfect example of turning the need for personal profit into ecological disaster.

      (This is the point where most people turn into fascists. Do not be like most people. We do not need to ban Funko Pops. We

      • Yes it would have! The only way we have to decarbonize transportation is electrification. Nuclear energy is great at producing electricty. Shipping could also be done with nuclear energy. See the NS Savannah.,

        • Yes it would have!

          If I am understanding you correctly, you are saying that power generation is the only major carbon emitting that we do. Any incidental carbon emitting from other activities is minor enough to have been swallowed by the planet without issue? Is that correct?

          Honestly, I suspect that you should walk back your claims of nuclear power solving the carbon crisis. Nuclear power would help a LOT, there is zero doubt of that, but it is clearly insufficient in and of itself.

    • Even if power plants would have been nuclear, your cars and trains and ships would still run on Diesel or Gasoline and you would still burn gas in your house.

      Idiot, very much? Ah, its you ... I thought it was MadMann again, but it's the algebraic idiot.

      • Electrification is the solution to cars, trains, and heating. Why do you antinuclear scumbag germans keep burning gas for heating? Ships can run nuclear plants. See the NS Savannaha

  • "warmer than the average for 1850-1900, according to C3S, and 0.72C warmer than the 1991-2020 average"

    And the period 1901-1990?

  • Humidity needs to also be considered for some sort of easily comparable metric per unit time. I wonder if it's a lot worse.

  • Hopeless exercise (Score:3)

    by RobinH ( 124750 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @03:29PM (#63754230) Homepage
    Back in the 90s the smokers who I worked with would say, "my father smoked a pack a day all his life and lived to be 90" even though the link to cancer was firmly established back then. A few years ago a coworker told me it was normal for European women to drink a little while they were pregnant, so she wasn't worried about it, and this was when the evidence was quite clear that there's no safe alcohol level during pregnancy and FAS is pretty scary. Now we're in the midst of groups either outright denying reality ("alternative facts," flat earthers, and faked moon landing conspiracy theorists), media and even individual professional journalists blatantly taking sides on political or culture war issues while supposedly reporting the news, scam science videos on YouTube with surprisingly good production values, deep faked celebrity endorsements of health supplements, we're still seeing claims about vaccines causing autism decades later, and overall just a full on assault on credibility across the board. Now it's just accepted that you can believe whatever you want, call it research, and find a tribe that'll high-five you for your high-brow intellectualism. So naturally the comments section of this post is going to be full of people denying climate change and posting links to bullshit articles that would take you 30 minutes each to debunk. Amateur propagandists lie to you and suppress the truth. Professionals make you give up trying to wade through the tidal wave of contradictory bullshit. I was there in the 90s when we all thought the internet was going to massively improve society by giving everyone access to all collected human knowledge and an equal voice, and damn, we were completely wrong.

    • and this was when the evidence was quite clear that there's no safe alcohol level during pregnancy and FAS is pretty scary.
      There is actually no evidence at all, that drinking a normal amount of alcohol, e.g. a glass wine during lunch or dinner: has _any effect at all_ on the pregnancy.

      A few years ago a coworker told me it was normal for European women to drink a little while they were pregnant, He was/is correct.
      We, is in mankind, drink alcohol since minimum 10,000 years. Probably much longer. And you can b

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by RobinH ( 124750 )
        My wife's Ph.D. was on FAS, so I'm perhaps a little more knowledgeable about it than most, but the causal relationship is very clear. But go ahead and give your kid irreversible neurological damage if you want to.
  • I call bullshit. July 2022 was a lot hotter than July 2023. In fact, I remember way worse July months in the 2000's.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
      All over the world, or just where you live?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by paugq ( 443696 )
        Every year there's some places in the world that are hotter than the previous year, and some other places in the world that are colder than the previous year. This whole thing about "boiling weather" is stupid.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
          If you were somewhere that is too hot for human health, you might not think it was stupid. Or are you trying to claim average temperatures are not increasing on a worldwide average basis?

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