El Nino is here and scientists fear it'll be big, bad and costly with heat, floods, droughts, fires

Experts said the #ElNiño, a natural warming cycle, should further heat a globe already warming from #FossilFuel pollution and will likely turbocharge #ExtremeWeather across the planet. Meteorologists forecast it will rival—or exceed—a record El Niño that began in 1997 and helped trigger billions of dollars in damage from #HeatWaves, #floods, #droughts, #tornadoes and #wildfires.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially confirmed the existence of the El Niño, which is a warming of the #Pacific near the equator that affects weather patterns across the globe. #NOAA's announcement said there's a 63% chance that the El Niño will get so intense this late fall and early winter that it "would rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record going back to 1950."

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-el-nino-scientists-itll-big.html

#ClimateScience
#ClimateCrisis

From #Arctic heat to #megafires, #WMO report shows climate change completely reshaping #Europe

By Andrei Ionescu, 6/2/2026

"In the far north, climate change is not some distant warning anymore. It is already reshaping the landscape.

"Across Alaska and Canada, Arctic and boreal regions are warming up to four times faster than the global average.

"That puts a huge amount of pressure on #ecosystems that have long helped slow climate change by pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it in #trees, #shrubs, and #soil.

When forests stop helping

"The trouble is, those ecosystems do not always stay helpful under stress.

"As wildfires grow more intense, drought becomes more common, and other disturbances spread, parts of the north may start giving #carbon back to the atmosphere instead of locking it away.

"Once that happens, the whole climate system becomes harder to stabilize.

"That is why scientists care so much about #biomass, the total amount of living plant material across these landscapes."

Read more:
https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-forests-could-be-hiding-a-major-climate-surprise/

#BorealForests #ArcticForests #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #WarmingOceans #Heatwaves
#ArcticEcosystems #OceansAreLife

For regions of the world that are already close to their thermal limits, finding a way to stay cool as we race past 1.5°C is going to become mission critical.

Here is what Singapore is trying.

#Adaptation #Heatwaves #ClimateCrisis

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-08/singapore-brings-back-19th-century-tech-to-beat-warming-climate

"simple ways cities can adapt to heatwaves"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20230706-the-simple-ways-cities-can-adapt-to-heatwaves

#SolarPunkSunday #HeatWaves #UrbanInfrastructure #Environment

#NestingSeagull in supermarket car park saved from sun by smart-thinking staff

by Nicholas Bourne, May 31, 2026

"A seagull nesting in a roadside hole next to a Morrisons supermarket was given extra protection from this week's heat when staff coned the area off and put a sun shade over it.

"Shopper Heather Ward, 49, from Caerphilly thanked 'lovely' staff at #Cardiff's Llanishen store after traffic cones were placed around the nest with a sheet tied over them to protect the bird from the sun.

"Ward said she remembered spotting a seagull at the same spot last year and this bird did not seem fazed, despite cars passing by on the road on one side and vehicles parked 'inches away' on the other.

"Customers also left the bird food and it is thought it left its nest late on Friday or very early on Saturday morning.

" 'They'd put cones around the bird and tied a sun sheet over the top to protect it from the heat, and given it some water and food,' said Ward."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy2zwzl2wko

#SolarPunkSunday #HumanKindness #BirdAndBreakfast #BirdNests #Heatwaves #Kindness #Wales

The Guardian:Fifa backtracks on plastic water bottles ban at World Cup after fury from fans

"...The move was criticised by fan groups and scientific experts, who were already concerned about the impact of extreme heat on the welfare of spectators, while the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, called the measure “wrong” and said it was “about making money”....."

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/06/fifa-backtracks-on-plastic-water-bottles-at-world-cup-after-backlash-to-ban

#heatwaves #extremeheat #sports #water