World Meteorological Organization

17 Stories

Feel Like It Was Hotter Than Ever This Summer? It Was

July and August were the 2 hottest months globally on record

(Newser) - Just how hot was it this summer? The hottest, according to the World Meteorological Organization. July 2023 was the hottest month ever measured globally, while August 2023 is the second hottest month, according to data shared Wednesday by the WMO and European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, which has...

Earth Has Good Chance of Soon Hitting a 'Global Guardrail': UN

66% chance world to reach key limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius in 5 years, though likely temporarily

(Newser) - There's a two-out-of-three chance that the world will temporarily hit a key warming limit within the next five years, the United Nations weather agency said Wednesday. But it likely would only be a fleeting and less worrisome flirtation with the internationally agreed upon temperature threshold. Scientists expect a temporary...

Experts Warn of Possible 'Taste' of Crossing Climate Threshold

There's a 48% chance temps will reach 1.5 degrees C above preindustrial levels before 2026

(Newser) - The 2015 Paris Agreement lays out the goal to try to limit global warming to a long-term average of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. But there's already a 48% chance that we'll temporarily breach that limit in one of the next five...

2 Lightning Bolts Enter the Record Books

One flashed for nearly 500 miles in the US, the other lasted about 17 seconds in South America

(Newser) - Most flashes of lightning are gone in the blink of an eye and forgotten. And then there are these two beasts, newly entered into the record books by the World Meteorological Organization .
  • Length: On April 29, 2020, a single "megaflash" of lightning covered a distance of 477 miles over
...

Greek Letters Will No Longer Be Used for Hurricanes

WMO says they were too confusing in 2020

(Newser) - The World Meteorological Association's Hurricane Committee meets every year to decide what hurricane names should be retired. This year, they retired an entire alphabet. The WMO decided that the use of Greek letters was too much of a distraction from the impact of the hurricanes themselves, the Verge reports....

We're Down to the Last Name on the List of Hurricane Names

Then it's on to the Greek alphabet

(Newser) - The World Meteorological Organization approved a list of 21 Atlantic storm names for the 2020 season. AccuWeather reports there are, on average, 12 named storms in a full season, but at this point, there's only one of the 21 that has gone unused. That would be Wilfred, reports USA ...

Unusual Pandemic Casualty: Weather Forecasts

Airplanes that provide meteorological data aren't flying

(Newser) - Last month, the director general of the International Air Transport Association described the coronavirus pandemic as the biggest crisis to ever hit the industry, leaving airlines "with little to do," per Business Insider . One ramification now coming to light is the effect on weather forecasts. As NPR reports,...

Greenhouse Gas Levels Haven't Been This Bad in 3M Years

Researcher says the gravity has 'not sunk in'

(Newser) - Congratulations, you've lived to see a planet transformed back to the Pliocene Epoch , at least in terms of greenhouse gas levels. "The window of opportunity for action is almost closed," says the UN's World Meteorological Organization after its annual assessment found concentrations of carbon dioxide in...

For the First Time in 3 Decades, We Have New Clouds

World Meteorological Organization cloud atlas updated for first time since 1987

(Newser) - Look up in the sky: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a … volutus, or is that an asperitas? If you're not sure what kind of cloud you're seeing above your head, consult the World Meteorological Organization's International Cloud Atlas , newly updated just...

'Very Likely' 2016 Will Be Warmest Year Yet

World Meteorological Organization says temps were 1.58 degrees hotter than baseline average

(Newser) - Scientists have only the first nine months on the books, but that data is enough to indicate that 2016 may be the world's warmest year yet, the BBC reports. A World Meteorological Organization statement published Monday relayed that from January through September of this year, global temps were 1....

The Earth Was Record-Breakingly Hot This Year

And things aren't looking good for 2016 either

(Newser) - In a few weeks, 2015 will officially go down as the hottest year on record, and 2016 is likely to be even worse, the UN's World Meteorological Organization announced Wednesday. “This is all bad news for the planet," the Wall Street Journal quotes WMO director-general Michel Jarraud....

UN: Ozone Is Bouncing Back
 UN: Ozone Is 
 Bouncing Back 

UN: Ozone Is Bouncing Back

Layer is showing first signs of recovery

(Newser) - An environment story without warnings of impending doom : The ozone layer that blocks cancer-causing rays from the sun is finally starting to recover thanks to global action, according to the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program. While it will probably take until the middle of this century...

2013 Saw Fastest Spike in CO2 Levels Since 1984

Greenhouse gases hit record highs: World Meteorological Organization

(Newser) - Greenhouse gases rose to record levels last year, according to a new report by the World Meteorological Organization, making a worldwide climate treaty more critical now than ever. Concentrations of carbon dioxide in particular peaked at 396 parts per million, the BBC reports—3ppm over the previous year, in the...

Is This an Official New Cloud?
 Is This an Official New Cloud? 

Is This an Official New Cloud?

Advocates of 'undulatus asperatus' sure hope so

(Newser) - Cloud gazers, make room for "undulatus asperatus." That translates into "agitated waves," and advocates are pushing for it to be formally recognized as a new cloud variety, reports USA Today . The movement has been gaining steam since a 2006 photo from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, went viral....

Death Valley Gets Record for Hottest Day ... 99 Years Later

Libya's claim thrown out because of unreliable thermometer

(Newser) - California's Death Valley now has the honor of posting the hottest temperature on record, but don't blame climate change—the record-breaker of 134 degrees happened on June 10, 1913. The reason for the belated title? Libya had claimed the hottest day on record since 1992 with a thermometer...

Arctic Ozone Took 40% Hit This Winter

Up from previous record of 30%

(Newser) - The ozone layer above the Arctic withered by 40% this winter, according to the UN's weather agency, a stark increase from the previous seasonal record of 30%. The loss was driven largely by frigid conditions in the stratosphere—though surface temperatures were actually warmer than normal—and lingering chemicals banned...

World 'Knew' About Cyclone, Expert Says

Burma says it warned citizens 5 days before landfall

(Newser) - Burma says it warned its people of Cyclone Nargis 5 days before landfall, when it learned of the storm over news wires—but one expert believes Burma's media outlets were too primitive to spread the message. With Burma's death toll as high as 100,000, Newsweek talked to a global...

17 Stories
Most Read on Newser