Today's Climate Change

While we're all freaked out about Qult45 and the elections and the pandemic and whether or not our dogs are eating a healthy non-GMO brand of over-priced chow that will prob'ly become a staple of human diets in about a year or two as the global economy continues to collapse under the weight of the pure unadulterated greed of plutocrats, we could do with a little reminder that nothing's going to matter anyway if we don't get a handle on this climate thing, goddammit.

NYT (pay wall)

Another Month on a Warming Planet: Record-Hot November

European scientists reported that November’s global temperatures were the highest ever, surpassing the previous record, set in 2016 and 2019.

Last month was the hottest November on record, European researchers said Monday, as the relentlessly warming climate proved too much even for any possible effects of cooler ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

Scientists with the Copernicus Climate Change Service said that global temperatures in November were 0.1 degree Celsius (about 0.2 degree Fahrenheit) above the previous record-holders, in 2016 and 2019. November 2020 was 0.8 degree Celsius (or 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average from 1981 to 2010.

Warm conditions persisted over large swaths of the planet, with temperatures the highest above average across Northern Europe and Siberia, as well as the Arctic Ocean. Much of the United States was warmer than average as well.

The Copernicus service said that so far this year, temperatures were on par with 2016, which is the hottest year on record. Barring a significant drop in global temperatures in December, 2020 was likely to remain tied with 2016 or even become the warmest on record by a small margin, the service said.