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credit: Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
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Scientists say July was the hottest month on record, beating the previous mark set in 2016. Records began 142 years ago; global land and ocean surface temperature last month was one degree Celsius, 0.9C (1.6F), hotter than the 20th-century average of 15.8C (60.4F), The symptoms of plantary heating are there to be seen on screen--from wildfires in the western US and Greece to flooding in central Europe and China. Sicily it the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe, 48.6C/119.5F. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that humans’ burning of fossil fuels has “unequivocally” heated up the planet to temperatures not seen on Earth in around 125,000 years. It will only get worse if nothing is done by governments around the world.
The normally wet and mild Pacific northwest is experiencing its second record heatwaave this summer with temperatures in Setattle and Portland hitting triple digits. Portland registered 103/39C on Thursday and Bellingham, WA cracked 100/38C for the first time in recorded history. Wildfires are burning in drought striken forests, making the atmosphere unhealthy to breath. The 413,000 acre Bootleg fire, second largest in Oregon history, is largely contained but still burns, poisoning the atmosphere with soot and smoke.
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credit S.Sack, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
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