— Last year was the warmest on record at many major climate sites in the Northeast, including Concord in New Hampshire, Burlington in Vermont and Worcester in Massachusetts, the Northeast Regional Climate Center says.
— Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island had their warmest night-time temperatures on record last year. Above-average nighttime temperatures were observed across nearly all of the lower 48 states, the NCEI says.
— Precipitation was above average across much of the Northeast last year. Maine had its fifth wettest year on record, while Vermont and Connecticut had their sixth wettest year, the NCEI says. It was the third wettest year in Worcester and fourth wettest in Hartford, Connecticut, the Northeast Regional Climate Center says.
— About 65 million people in the lower 48 states were affected by record heat last year, the NCEI says.
— Last year, the U.S. shattered the record for billion-dollar weather and climate disasters: 28 events compared with the previous record (22) set in 2020, based on statistics collected by the NCEI. In the lower 48 states, it was the fifth warmest year on record and the third driest.
— Globally, 2023 was the warmest year since global records began in 1850: 1.18 degrees Celsius (2.12 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th-century average, according to the NCEI. The 10 warmest years on record have all been in the last decade (2014–23).
— The average sea surface temperature last year was the highest on record, according to Zach Labe, a climate scientist and post-doc at Princeton University and NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.
— Global warming of 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.98 degrees Fahrenheit) has led to “more frequent & more intense extreme weather events that have caused dangerous impacts on nature & people worldwide,” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change posted. “Every increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards.”
— Levels of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas that is driving recent climate change, rose by nearly 100 parts per million (from 328 to 426) in the atmosphere from the first Earth Day in 1970 till Earth Day 2024, Labe posted.
— With greenhouse gas levels continuing to increase, last year included record sea-level rise as well as sea surface temperatures, record low Antarctic sea ice, along with extreme weather that caused death and devastation, according to the Provisional State of the Global Climate in 2023 report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
— 2011 to 2020 was warmest decade on record, according to The Global Climate 2011–2020: A decade of acceleration report by the WMO. Key observations included unprecedented glacier and ice sheet loss, accelerating sea-level rise, ocean heat and acidification damage to marine ecosystems, extreme weather that undermined sustainable development and an ozone layer that is on track to recover.
— “Harmful tipping points in the natural world pose some of the gravest threats faced by humanity. Their triggering will severely damage our planet’s life-support systems and threaten the stability of our societies,” according to the Global Tipping Points Summary Report 2023 led by experts at the University of Exeter in the UK. “For example, the collapse of the Atlantic Ocean’s great overturning circulation combined with global warming could cause half of the global area for growing wheat and maize to be lost. Five major tipping points are already at risk of being crossed due to warming right now and three more are threatened in the 2030s as the world exceeds 1.5°C (Celsius) global warming.” They are: the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, warm-water coral reefs, North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre circulation and permafrost regions.
More images, including some of my recent photos in New Hampshire:
Source: NOAA Ocean Service
Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
2023 was the warmest year since global records began in 1850. The 10 warmest years in the 174-year record have all occurred during the last decade (2014–23). Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
The global surface temperature in March 2024 was 2.43 degrees Fahrenheit (1.35 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average, making it the warmest March on record and the 10th consecutive month of record-high global temperatures. There is a 55 percent chance that 2024 will rank as the warmest year on record and a 99 percent chance that it will rank in the top five. Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
With multiple warmer-than-normal months, annual average temperatures in 2023 ranged from near normal to more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in the Northeast. Source: Northeast Regional Climate Center
Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
The January–March 2024 global surface temperature was 2.43 degrees Fahrenheit (1.35 degrees Celsius) above the 20th Century average, making it the warmest such period on record. Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
Source: Zach Labe, a climate scientist and post-doc at Princeton University and NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
Source: Brian Brettschneider, PhD climatologist based in Alaska
Since 1895, it was approximately the 25th warmest April in the contiguous U.S. Source: Brian Brettschneider, PhD climatologist based in Alaska
Source: Brian Brettschneider, PhD climatologist based in Alaska
While it was often warmer than normal in the Northeast last year, temperatures in Phoenix, Arizona, were generally far higher. The desert city faced 31 days in a row of 110 degree-plus highs and 16 days in a row of 90-plus lows. according to preliminary data. Source: National Weather Service Phoenix office.
Precipitation ranged from 75 percent of normal to 150 percent above normal for most of the Northeast. Source: Northeast Regional Climate Center
Source: National Weather Service Gray/Portland ME office, which covers New Hampshire and western Maine
Source: National Weather Service Gray/Portland ME office
Source: National Weather Service Gray/Portland ME office
Source: National Weather Service Gray/Portland ME office
Source: National Weather Service Gray/Portland ME office
New Hampshire and Massachusetts had their warmest year in the 129-year record. Maine, Vermont and Connecticut had their second warmest year. Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
Precipitation was above average across much of the Northeast last year. Maine had its fifth wettest year on record. Vermont and Connecticut had their sixth wettest year. Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
Source: NOAA Climate.gov/NCEI
Last year was the warmest on record in the dark red areas. “Regular red shading” areas had among their top five warmest years (all preliminary data). Source: Brian Brettschneider, PhD climatologist based in Alaska
“Annual temperature ranking since 1940 for the Contiguous U.S. It was the 5th warmest year during this period. If this data set went back to the mid 1800s (like several others), it would still be warmer than every one of those years prior to 1940 — even the mythical 1930s.” Source: Brian Brettschneider, PhD climatologist based in Alaska
2023 was “quite wet in the Northeast, western Great Plains, and California/Nevada. Dry in the Northwest, Southwest, and Gulf Coast.” Source: Brian Brettschneider, PhD climatologist based in Alaska, citing preliminary data
“2023 was a slightly drier than average year (97% of normal) for the Contiguous U.S. There were several areas of pronounced dryness, and several areas of pronounced wetness.” Source: Brian Brettschneider, PhD climatologist based in Alaska, citing preliminary data
“🚨 BREAKING: 2023 shattered the record for warmest year. What else is there to say? 🔥🔥🔥” Source: Brian Brettschneider, PhD climatologist based in Alaska, citing preliminary data
Source: Zach Labe, a climate scientist and post-doc at Princeton University and NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.
The average sea-surface temperature for the ocean across Europe was the warmest on record in 2023. Parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the northeastern Atlantic Ocean saw their highest annual average sea surface temperature on record. Source: World Meteorological Organization
“This illustration shows the major ocean currents throughout the globe. Ocean currents act as conveyer belts for microplastics throughout the ocean. Courtesy of NOAA Ocean Explorer.” Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
“Europe is no exception when it comes to the consequences of climate change. It is the fastest warming continent, with temperatures rising at around twice the global average rate.” Source: World Meteorological Organization
Source: Zach Labe, a climate scientist and post-doc at Princeton University and NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.
Graphic Source: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory.… Despite the recent AMOC slowdown, another “paper concludes that the system is showing signs of resilience, mostly due to the robustness of the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream resilience is in keeping with a study published by NCEI researchers in 2019.” Source: National Centers for Environmental Information
“10 groups have submitted predictions to the Seasonal Hurricane Predictions platform (https://seasonalhurricanepredictions.org) so far for the 2024 Atlantic #hurricane season. All groups are calling for an above-normal season, with the average of all forecasts calling for 11 hurricanes.” Source: Philip Klotzbach, meteorologist at Colorado State University specializing in Atlantic basin seasonal hurricane forecasts
The Main Development Region (for tropical cyclones and hurricanes) in the Atlantic Ocean “is now looking like mid-to-late July, both in terms of ocean heat content AND sea surface temperature.” Source: Brian McNoldy, senior research associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School
The Main Development Region (for tropical cyclones and hurricanes) in the Atlantic Ocean “is now looking like mid-to-late July, both in terms of ocean heat content AND sea surface temperature.” Source: Brian McNoldy, senior research associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School.
“Climate change is supercharging the water cycle, bringing heavier precipitation extremes — and related flood risks — across the U.S. As the climate has warmed from 1958 to 2021, the most extreme precipitation days have intensified in every major U.S. region, led by the Northeast (+60%) and Midwest (+45%). This hazardous intensification is expected to continue with future warming.” Source: Climate Central
“50-year trend in annual cloud coverage. This is highly correlated to the 50-year trend in annual precipitation,” Source: Brian Brettschneider, PhD climatologist based in Alaska
Source: Northeast Regional Climate Center
It was the sixth driest April on record in Caribou, Maine. Source: Northeast Regional Climate Center
Snowfall last month ranged from 9 inches below normal to more than a foot above normal. It was the seventh least snowy April on record in Caribou, Maine, the ninth snowiest in Concord, New Hampshire and the 11th snowiest in Burlington, Vermont. Source: Northeast Regional Climate Center
Source: NOAA Climate Prediction Center
Hebron on May 1, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Hebron on May 1, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Hebron on April 30, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Moultonborough on April 29, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Newfound Lake in Alexandria on April 28, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Rye on April 28, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Newfound Lake in Alexandria on April 23, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Newfound Lake in Alexandria on April 23, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Concord on April 22, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Hebron on April 16, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Newfound Lake on Jan. 4, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Newfound Lake on Jan. 4, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Icicles near Bear Mountain on Jan. 2, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Newfound Lake on Jan. 2, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Ice in Alexandria on Jan. 2, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Hebron on Jan. 1, 2024. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Goose Pond on Dec. 31, 2023. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Stream near Goose Pond on Dec. 31, 2023. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Near Goose Pond on Dec. 31, 2023. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
Ragged Mountain Resort on Dec. 30, 2023. Photo by Todd B. Bates/NH EnviroGuy blogger
NH EnviroGuy blogger & photography enthusiast living near Newfound Lake in New Hampshire. Finalist, 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. Snowy ROC NY native.