TEMP RECORDS KEEP ROLLING IN: Last month was the hottest September on record, the fifth straight month to break its temperature record this year, federal scientists announced on Wednesday.
The average global surface temperature was 60.62 degrees Fahrenheit in September, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or 1.62 degrees warmer than the 20th century average.
{mosads}It was the warmest September since record-keeping began in 1880, and it represented the highest departure from average for any month since then, according to NOAA.
The first nine months of 2015 were the hottest on record, NOAA said. Last month — after announcing August had broken its temperature record — scientists said it would take “a remarkable and abrupt reversal” in temperatures to keep 2015 from breaking the overall mark for warmest year on record.
Read more here.
ON TAP THURSDAY I: The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s energy and power panel will hold a hearing on legal perspectives over the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) carbon rules for new and existing power plants. Multiple attorneys and legal experts will testify, including Elbert Lin, West Virginia’s solicitor general, who is planning to lead about 15 states in challenging the rules in court.
ON TAP THURSDAY II: EPA head Gina McCarthy will be the featured speaker at a Center for American Progress event on methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector. McCarthy will speak about the EPA’s efforts to reduce methane, including the August proposal on standards to prevent methane leaks in oil and gas production.
Rest of Thursday’s agenda …
The House Science Committee will hold a hearing on the science behind the EPA’s new ozone regulation.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment subpanel will hold a hearing on legislation to help rural water systems with upgrades to comply with EPA rules.
AROUND THE WEB:
OPEC met on Wednesday, but the organization didn’t make any decisions about how to combat falling oil prices, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The New Zealand government is defending its environmental record after a damning report came out earlier this week, Radio New Zealand reports.
Canada’s National Observer looks at the potential candidates to serve as Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau’s environmental minster.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Check out Wednesday’s stories…
-Greens push for limits on airplane, shipping emissions in climate deal
-House probes cyber threats to power grid
-Coal supporters rally before Obama’s W.Va. visit
-White House dismisses ‘tired’ GOP arguments against climate pact
-September breaks temperature record
-Oil refiners to GOP: Reject Dem demands
-Bush: Move Interior Dept to western city
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