Some Meteorological Winter 2024-25 Highlights
(December 2024 through February 2025)
(in progress)
FIRE
1. The Los Angeles area is being devastated by multiple fires, driven by high winds approaching 100mph, high temperatures, low humidity, lack of rainfall, dry vegetation and insufficient water resources. Early estimates: 13 dead, thousands of buildings incinerated, hundreds of thousands of residents forced to evacuate, and over $50 billion in damages.
While multi-million-dollar mansions in Pacific Palisades burned to the ground, over 75,000 unhoused called the streets and parks of Los Angeles County home. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.”
BY THE NUMBERS
2. Continuing the trend set in the Fall months, December 2024 was the second warmest December on record behind 2023 and far ahead of all other Decembers. At 1.42°C, December 2024 was not so anomalously warm as October and November 2024, both of which were more than 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 average.
3. The last 11 years (2014-2024) were the 11 warmest on record. 2024 was the warmest year on record, 1.46°C above the 1850-1900 average.
4. The average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during December was 425.40ppm, an increase of 3.54ppm over December 2023, as measured at Mauna Loa. The 12 month running average for 2024 was 424.60ppm, an increase of a record 3.53ppm over 2023. The previous record holder was the 12 months ending in January 2017 which beat the 12 months ending in January 2016 by 3.48ppm.
5. The El Niño / La Niña (ONI) index fell to −0.4, still within the neutral range. The looming La Niña episode that appears to be on the point of materializing may be beginning to cool surface temperatures down slightly.
STORMS AND FLOODING
6. Cyclone Chido caused devastating flooding in the French colony of Mayotte which lies between Madagascar and the African mainland. Like most European colonies, Mayotte's well-being has long been ignored by the colonizing entity.
7. Floods in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, have killed at least 13 and affected thousands.
OIL SPILLS
8. Peru declared a 90-day environmental emergency due to an oil spill on its northern coast, which occurred while attempting to load a tanker.
EARTHQUAKES
9. The Chinese province of Tibet was shaken by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, killing at least 95. To what extent melting glaciers have destabilized the fault line and contributed to the earthquake is uncertain.
Some Meteorological Autumn 2024 Highlights
(September through November 2024)
BY THE NUMBERS
1. The months September through November 2024 were somewhat less anomalously warm than the corresponding three months in 2023 but far warmer than all other months of the same name. Surface temperatures are still extremely high with October and November temperatures more than 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 average.
2. The last ten 12-month periods ending in November (2015-2024) were the ten warmest on record.
3. The average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during meteorological autumn 2024 was 422.75 ppm as measured at Mauna Loa, an increase of 3.49 ppm over meteorological autumn 2023.
4. The El Niño / La Niña (ONI) index over meteorological autumn was −0.2 well within the neutral range. So far the predicted La Niña episode that was supposed to cool surface temperatures off has not materialized.
STORMS AND FLOODING
5. A rare category 5 equivalent Typhoon Yagi struck the Philippines, South China and Vietnam in early September killing at least 800 (mostly in Vietnam) and doing over $12 billion in damages (mostly in China). Yagi, which means goat in Japanese, is one of only four category V equivalent typhoons ever recorded in the South China Sea.
6. Hurricane Helene came ashore as a category IV hurricane in Florida's big bend area. It moved north and wreaked havoc, flooding a totally unprepared North Carolina, killing over 200 people and doing over $100 billion of damages. Floods from Helene stirred up toxins which will continue to damage both people and the environment for many years to come.
7. Hurricane Milton, which closely followed Helene, reached category V intensity. Weakening to category III by time of landfall, south of Tampa, Milton cut a swath of destruction across central Florida killing 35 and causing an estimated $85 billion in damages.
8. After killing 125 in the Philippines,
Storm Trami dropped almost a foot of water on China's Hainan Island in 24 hours flooding much of the Island, before going on to make landfall in Vietnam.
9. Sea levels in China's Bohai Sea inexplicable rose over 5 feet in hours flooding the streets of Tianjin. Scientists are trying to figure out why.
10. Meanwhile in Eastern Europe, heavy rains from Storm Boris flooded Poland, the Czech Republic and much of east and central Europe, killing at least 26. Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, blamed the flooding on beavers. (Actually by damming streams and rivers, beavers help retain water, sequestering carbon, slowing down river flows and adding resilience to wetland systems.)
11. Catastrophic flooding in and around Valencia has killed over 150 in one of Spain's worst disasters on record.
12. Tropical storm Sara causes over 10 fatalities in Central America and the Caribbean while displacing thousands.
13. After the ongoing Israeli genocide had destroyed most infrastructure in Gaza, Gazans, living in tents, have to cope with flooding made worse by climate change caused mostly by wealthy countries.
14. Catastrophic rainfall and flooding persisted through the Fall in much of Africa. Africa has suffered thousands of fatalities in 2024 from extreme weather which has impacted millions. A dam in Northern Nigeria collapsed, flooding the town of Maiduguri and washing crocodiles and snakes from a local zoo into flooded communities. 2024 was less an aberration in Africa and more a continuation of a pattern of increased rainfall over the past 5 years.
DROUGHT
15. October 2024 tied for the second driest month on record in the lower 48 US states, logging an average 0.95 inches of rain. New York and Philadelphia experienced their driest month ever.
DISEASE
16. A study of valley fever in California showed that cases tended to spike as heavy rains came after prolonged drought. Cases of valley fever which can cause respiratory illness and joint pain and, in some cases spread throughout the body and be fatal, have increased. With changes to the climate and frequent prolonged droughts, valley fever has extended its range. While drought appears to decrease valley fever cases in the short term, the net effect seems to be an increase over time.
17. In locations, where white-nose syndrome has devastated the bat population, infant mortality has risen. The connection is complex. Fungal disease killed bats, bats stopped eating enough insects, farmers applied more pesticide, more babies died. Biodiversity is important to human health.
CAPITALISM
18. Global Witness has released a study showing that at least 196 defenders of the Earth were murdered in 2023. Colombia leads the pack with 79 murders. At least 25 environmental defenders were murdered in 2023 after opposing mining operations.
19. This year's COP29 was yet another failure, variously described as a dumpster fire with planet Earth burning and a soulless triumph for the rich. COP29 was likely attended by more lobbyists than people. Poor countries reeling from climate change were offered a paltry $300 billion, mostly in loans from rich countries. This is disgusting. Poor countries must take out loans in order to try to adapt to climate change from the same wealthy countries that are responsible for climate change in the first place.
20. Two heavily-loaded Russian oil tankers sank in violent seas in the Kirch Straight between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, likely causing severe environmental damage. This might have been avoided if Russia had not been so busy fighting a war in The Ukraine.
WILDFIRES
21. September wildfires in Bolivia burned almost 25 million acres releasing more than 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and degrading air quality over much of central South America.
Some Meteorological Summer 2024 Highlights
(June through August 2024)
BY THE NUMBERS
1. August 2024 makes 15 months in a row, each one warmer than all previous months with that same name. Eight of the 15 were over 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 average.
2. With the close of the 2023-24 El Niño episode, surface temperatures are not quite so anomalously warm as a few months ago, but still extremely high. The average anomaly over meteorological Summer registered 1.35°C above the 1850-1900 average. Ocean temperatures as well as land temperatures have fallen slightly from previous highs.
3. The last ten 12-month periods ending in August (2015-2024) were the ten warmest on record.
4. The 12-month period ending in August 2024 was the warmest 12-month period on record, 1.50°C above the 1850-1900 average, beating out the previous two 12-month period by an insignificant fraction of one hundredth of a degree.
5. The average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during meteorological summer 2024 was 425.13 ppm as measured at Mauna Loa, an increase of 3.42 ppm over meteorological summer 2023.
6. The El Niño / La Niña (ONI) index over the June through August 3-month period was 0.1, down from a high of 2.0 during the November 2023 through January 2024 3-month period. Summer marked the end of the 2023-24 El Niño episode. While strong, the 2023-24 El Niño episode was well below the strength of the 2014-2016 El Niño. Climate models are still predicting a transition to La Niña conditions later in 2024, although not so strongly as in previous predictions. La Niña conditions favor an intense North Atlantic hurricane season.
FORESTS
7. A ground-breaking study by the US Forest Service found that in spite of wildfires, insects, drought, logging and other stressors, the world's forests have mostly maintained their ability to sequester carbon over the past 30 years. The study recommends less deforestation, more reforestation.
8. 1/2 million trees have been sacrificed for Tesla's gigafactory in Germany.
9.California's iconic Joshua trees (actually yuccas) are under stress from increased heat and drought.
DEFENDING AGAINST CLIMATE INVADERS
10. Afghanistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change and also among the countries least responsible for climate change. Lacking international support, Afghanistan adapts to climate change as best it can. Lutfullah Khairkhwa, the Taliban’s deputy higher education minister remarked, “Just like they invaded our country, they’ve invaded our climate. We must defend our climate, our water, our soil to the same extent we defend ourselves against invasions.” Maybe, if other countries were also ready to defend their climate against invaders, we could reverse climate change.
HUNGER AND THIRST
11. Almost 10% of the world's population went hungry last year. Climate change was a major factor.
12. Wildfires are contaminating our drinking water.
13. Foodbanks not only provide food, but help to defend against heat stress.
MONEY
14. The rich act like their wealth will save them from climate change; but they should fear climate change, just like the rest of us should. A freak storm, made more likely by climate change, sunk billionaire Mike Lynch's 180 foot yacht, drowning him, his daughter and four others.
CYCLONES
15. Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category V hurricane to grace the North Atlantic. Taking advantage of super-heated ocean waters, Beryl intensified from a tropical storm to a Category V hurricane in just 42 hours. Beryl devastated the Windward Islands and Jamaica before crossing the Yucatan Peninsula and making its final landfall on the Texas coast, near Houston, where it caused flash flooding. Beryl was responsible for 40 fatalities with preliminary damage assessments in the billions. Remnants of Beryl, moving inland and north, caused flash-flooding in Vermont. One week after Beryl, thousands in the Houston area remained without power amidst summer heat and humidity.
16. Hurricane Debby was a large slow moving storm that brought intense flooding to Florida and the Atlantic coastal states. Debby was responsible for at least ten fatalities and over one billion dollars in damages.
17. Since Hurricane Beryl, the Atlantic hurricane season, which was predicted by all the models to be above average, has been disappointing, at least to those who like hurricanes.
18. Meanwhile, in the western Pacific Typhoon Shanshan devastates Japan.
19. And South Asia saw a rare August Cyclone which formed over land and moved out to sea.
FREEDOM
20. With the removal of dams on the Klamath River, which flows through southern Oregon and northern California, the river runs free and the salmon are free to swim upstream and spawn.
21. Beavers, whose dams provide water which inhibits the growth of forest fires, have been re-introduced to the land of the Tule River Tribe in California.
DROUGHT
22.Zambia has experienced a summer of severe drought.
HEAT AND FIRE
23. Heat-related deaths in the US have more than doubled since 1999. This is probably a
large undercount as heat is often not mentioned as a contributing factor on death certificates.
24.Phoenix, Arizona has experienced a record over 100 straight days with temperatures at or above 100°F. On 56 days this summer, temperatures in Phoenix reached 110°F or higher.
25. June through August is Winter in Australia, yet Australia has been sweltering amidst unprecedented high temperatures, in some places above 40°C.
26. Some watersheds may never recover from devastating wildfires. Wildfires can contaminate drinking water for many years.
27. The great 2024 North American heat wave started in Mexico in mid-March and later moved into Central America and the western United States before moving East. The 2024 North American heat wave was responsible for record temperatures, including 120°F in Las Vegas on July 7. Hundreds have died in this heat wave.
28. On July 15, Rolla Municipal Utilities (RMU) declared a peak alert, exhorting customers to conserve energy during peak hours, 3-6pm. You can learn about RMU's peak alert program here.
29. After a wet winter, vegetation, baked dry in the heat, is burning — again. California has lost $7.7 billion over the last decade due to climate destruction.
Oregon's Cow Valley and Durkee Fires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres in Eastern Oregon. California's
Park Fire exceeded 400,000 acres.
30. From Spain to
China, Eurasia swelters under a massive heatwave. Temperatures topped 40°C across Southern Europe. In Dubai, which flooded earlier in 2024,
wet bulb temperatures (a combination of heat and humidity) surpassed 60°C. Over 47,000 people are estimated to have died of heat-related causes in Europe in 2023.
31. Fires in the Brazilian Amazon got off to an early start this year and have reached a 14-year high.
32. Bolivia has declared a national state of emergency due to wildfires that have burned millions of acres of forests and grassland.
33. While we were all watching the Olympics, thousands in Greece were forced to evacuate due to fast-moving fires.
WAR
34. In 2023 the world spent almost $2.5 trillion on its militaries. This is not only a missed opportunity to fight climate change, but adds significantly to the world's production of greenhouse gases. This is particularly true in Gaza and Europe where active wars are being fought. It seems like many prefer 100% of nothing to their fair share of what exists.
35. A dam which provided the main source of water to Port Sudan burst killing at least 30. In the midst of a civil war, Sudan has been unable to repair its crumbling infrastructure.
PROTESTS
36. Climate activists have been arrested in protests over Citibank's deadly climate-wrecking activities.
SCIENCE
37. Richard Heinberg describes in a short article why technology-based solutions to climate change don't work and why nature-based solutions are absolutely necessary. Heinberg notes, “Unlike technology, nature constantly repairs itself. It tends to clean up pollution, rather than spreading toxins.” Meanwhile, governments spend billions of dollars on technology-based solutions, which benefit the elite who are causing the problem in the first place, while inexpensive nature-based solutions, like biochar, are right before their eyes.
CAPITALISM
38. Artificial Intelligence is so energy intensive that Google's carbon emissions have gone up 50% in the last five years. Still, Google toots: “A more sustainable future through information and innovation.” This is an excellent example of what Richard Heinberg talks about in the article discussed above.
39. In a world that ought to be moving away from fossil fuels at breakneck speed, Shell doubles down on natural gas.
40. While we are generating more energy from wind and solar, we are also using more energy, particularly for energy-intensive applications like artificial intelligence and crypto-currency mining. Meanwhile, climate warming emissions continue to increase.
ICE
41. The melting of glaciers in the Himalayas has caused over 200 rivulets to dry up, with many more at risk. Lack of water flowing from the Himalayas could severely impact food production in much of Asia. Melting of mountain ice also impacts stability leading to avalanches such as the recent landslide that killed over 50 in Nepal.
42. Melting permafrost is releasing more mercury into the environment than previously thought. Permafrost soil is thought to contain more mercury than all the other soil on the planet, plus all the oceans and the atmosphere. Mercury is an environmental toxin, particularly toxic to young children and pregnant women.
OCEANS
43. Hawaii joins California, Oregon and Washington in banning seabed mining in state waters. Indigenous peoples, including Hawaiians, are demanding a seat at the table at the International Seabed Authority.
44. With the end of the 2023-34 El Niño episode, ocean temperatures have fallen slightly from their previous peak, but still remain very high.
FLOODS
45. “Hoisted by his own petard:” After cutting $205 million from Florida's stormwater, wastewater, and sewer projects budget, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency due to heavy flooding in southern Florida.
46. Speaking of being up to your ass in alligators, monsoon rains in South Asia and hurricanes in North America have led to flooding and crocodile invasions of coastal cities.
47. Nashville, Illinois, a town of 30,000, 50 miles east of St. Louis, was evacuated as heavy rains caused a dam above Nashville to overflow and inundate the town. No injuries have been reported. Over 200 dams in the United States have failed since 2000.
48. Heavy rains paralyze Toronto, Canada's largest city.
49. From Delhi to Mumbai to Kerala, India experiences devastating floods and landslides.
50. The Sahara desert, the world's largest desert, has received rare unexpected rainfall this summer.
51.Yemen, which typically receives little rainfall, was hit by summer rainfall that caused flash-flooding and landslides, killing at least 27.
52. Twentynine Palms in the Mojave Desert, was hit by hail and intense rain causing flash-flooding.
LEGAL
53. Six months after the Biden administration's pause in reviewing permits for liquified natural gas export terminals was hailed as a big win for the environment, a federal judge rules feds have no authority to pause review of permits for gas export terminals.
Click here for highlights from previous months.
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