Sunflowers suffer from lack of water, as Europe is under an unusually extreme heat wave, in Beaumont du Gatinais, 60 miles south of Paris, France, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. France is this week going through its fourth heatwave of the year as the government warned last week that the country is faced with the most severe drought ever recorded. Some farmers have started to see a decrease in production especially in fields of soy, sunflowers and corn. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
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The Big Story
Earth hits full year of back-to-back monthly heat records
Planet Earth hit 12 consecutive months where the global average temperature reached a record high, according to new data released Wednesday.
The data from European climate scientists showed that it was also the 11th consecutive month during which the global average temperature reached or eclipsed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
In addition, last month was the hottest May on record, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
The global average temperature in the last 12 months was 0.75 Celsius above the 1991–2020 average and 1.63 Celsius higher than the pre-industrial average.
“It is shocking but not surprising that we have reached this 12-month streak,” C3S Director Carlo Buontempo said in a statement. “While this sequence of record-breaking months will eventually be interrupted, the overall signature of climate change remains and there is no sign in sight of a change in such a trend.”
Scientists have cautioned for some time that holding the average global temperature to no more than 1.5 Celsius above the pre-industrial average is paramount in lowering the risk of climate change.
Melting sea ice and precipitation, resulting from the planet’s increased heat, can lead to extreme weather conditions.
Read more in a full report from our colleague Filip Timotija atTheHill.com.
Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) on Wednesday announced his intention to end the state’s participation in California’s vehicle emissions standards, potentially setting up a confrontation with the Democratic-majority state Legislature that voted to adopt them three years ago.
The first-in-the-nation “congestion pricing” system that would charge drivers a pricey toll to enter Manhattan is now on pause indefinitely, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced Wednesday.
City Council members of Alameda, Calif., voted unanimously in the early hours Wednesday to put an end to a controversial climate research project that involved spraying sea salt particles into the East Bay Area’s air.
The Earth’s warming rate hit a record high last year, though the data did not show climate change is significantly accelerating, according to research published Tuesday.
A number of states held primaries for races up and down the ballot Tuesday, with President Biden and former President Trump inching ever closer to their respective nominations and a couple of notable Senate match-ups solidifying. Read more
A Georgia appeals court has frozen former President Trump’s criminal trial proceedings as it takes up his appeal seeking to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D), all but guaranteeing the trial will not be held before this year’s election. Read more
