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☆ Activists spray red paint over billionaire Walmart heiress’s superyacht for a second time
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Spanish climate activists sprayed red paint across a superyacht owned by billionaire Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie in Barcelona on Friday, the second time the yacht has been the target of protests in the past two months. Two activists from the climate groups Scientist Rebellion and Extinction Rebellion accessed Marina Port Vell, a dock for superyachts, at 7 a.m. local time on Friday, according to a spokesperson for the organization. The Walmart heiress Nancy Walton's megayacht was spray painted this morning by climate activists in Marina Port Vell, Barcelona . Scientist RebellionA spokesperson for Marina Port Vell said that the boat had not been damaged in Friday’s action. The activists were detained by police at the marina for three hours before being released, according to a spokesperson for Scientist Rebellion.

Persons: Nancy Walton Laurie, Nancy Walton's megayacht, Port Vell, Samantha Burgess Organizations: CNN, Scientist Rebellion, Port Police Locations: Spanish, Barcelona, Marina Port Vell, superyachts, Ibiza

☆ Britain rejoins EU's Horizon science programme in further boost for ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Alistair Smout | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a visit to Kent Scientific Services in West Malling, Kent, Britain, May 30, 2023. The agreement, which excludes the EU's Euratom nuclear research scheme, signals a further improvement in bilateral relations seven months after a row over trade was resolved. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's office said in a statement he had secured "improved financial terms of association" with the Horizon project. "This is the right deal for the UK, unlocking unparalleled research opportunities, and also the right deal for British taxpayers," Sunak said. Sunak's office said Britain would also associate with the European earth observation programme Copernicus, but not with the EU's Euratom programme, instead choosing to pursue a domestic fusion energy strategy.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Daniel Leal, Sunak, Copernicus, Rishi Sunak's, Ursula von der Leyen, Alistair Smout, Kylie MacLellan, Elizabeth Piper, John Stonestreet Organizations: Britain's, Kent Scientific Services, REUTERS Acquire, EU, LONDON, Union's, Horizon, Twitter, Northern Ireland, Thomson Locations: West Malling, Kent, Britain, Horizon Europe, Europe, EU

☆ Factbox: Horizon project: Which EU science schemes has Britain joined?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Daniel Leal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday said it would join the European Union's flagship Horizon science research programme and its Copernicus earth observation programme, but not the Euratom nuclear research initiative. HORIZON EUROPEHorizon Europe is the EU's key funding programme for scientific research and innovation with a budget of 95.5 billion euros ($102.3 billion). It has five main missions: Adapting to climate change, making climate neutral cities, combating cancer, and restoring oceans and soil. COPERNICUSCopernicus, previously known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), is the Earth observation component of the EU'S Space programme. EURATOMThe EU describes the Euratom Research and Training programme as a "complementary funding programme to Horizon Europe" covering nuclear research and innovation, using the same instruments and participation rules.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Daniel Leal, COPERNICUS Copernicus, Nicolaus Copernicus, Euratom, Alistair Smout, John Stonestreet Organizations: Britain's, Kent Scientific Services, European Union's, Environment, Security, EU, Research, Thomson Locations: West Malling, Kent, Britain, European, Europe

LONDON (AP) — Britain is rejoining the European Union’s $100 billion science-sharing program Horizon Europe, the two sides announced Thursday, more than two years after the country's membership became a casualty of Brexit. British scientists expressed relief at the decision, the latest sign of thawing relations between the EU and its former member nation. Britain is also rejoining Copernicus, the EU space program’s Earth observation component. Relations between Britain and the bloc were severely tested during the long divorce negotiations that followed Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the EU. British scientists, who feared Brexit would hurt international research collaboration, breathed sighs of relief at the Horizon deal.

Persons: Copernicus, ”, Ursula von der Leyen, Rishi Sunak, “, Sunak, Boris Johnson, Johnson, Paul Nurse, Francis Crick, didn’t, Peter Kyle Organizations: EU, Horizon, Northern, Republic of Ireland, Labour Party, Labour Locations: Britain, EU, Northern Ireland, Republic of, Europe

August was about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial averages, which is the warming threshold that the world is trying not to pass. “Climate breakdown has begun.”Political Cartoons View All 1145 ImagesSo far, 2023 is the second hottest year on record, behind 2016, according to Copernicus. Usually an El Nino, which started earlier this year, adds extra heat to global temperatures but more so in its second year. The world has been warmer before, but that was prior to human civilization, seas were much higher and the poles were not icy. While the world's air and oceans were setting records for heat, Antarctica continued to set records for low amounts of sea ice, the WMO said.

Persons: Copernicus, ”, Antonio Guterres, Carlo Buontempo, ___ Borenstein, Seth Borenstein Organizations: GENEVA, Northern, World Meteorological Organization, WMO, ” United Nations, El Nino, University of Maine's, Twitter, AP Locations: El, United Kingdom, United States, Antarctica, Washington

☆ It's official. UN says the world just endured its hottest summer on record
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The world just experienced its hottest three months on record by a substantial margin, according to the UN weather agency, prompting the UN chief to call for world leaders to take urgent climate action. The average temperature for those three months was 16.77 degrees Celsius (62.19 degrees Fahrenheit), which was 0.66 degrees Celsius above average for the period. The month of August was found to be the hottest on record by a large margin and the second hottest month after July 2023. The global average surface air temperature of 16.82 degrees Celsius for August was 0.71 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1991 to 2020 average for the month, and 0.31 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous hottest August, logged in 2016. The UN chief said that this latest global heat record must coincide with world leaders urgently pursuing climate solutions.

Persons: Copernicus, António Guterres, Guterres Organizations: UN, Meteorological Organization, Wednesday, Northern Locations: Iraqi, Baghdad

☆ Climate change: The world has just experienced the hottest summer on record
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —As heat waves continue to bake parts of the world, scientists are reporting that this blistering, deadly summer was the hottest on record – and by a significant margin. The planet experienced its hottest June on record, followed by the hottest July – both breaking previous records by large margins. August was also the warmest such month on record, according to the new Copernicus data, and warmer than every other month this year except for July. The global average temperature for the month was 16.82 degrees Celsius – 0.31 degrees warmer than the previous record set in 2016. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesCountries in the Southern Hemisphere have also experienced startlingly warm winters, with well-above average temperatures recorded in Australia, several South American countries and Antarctica.

Persons: Copernicus, It’s, ”, António Guterres, Petteri Taalas, Richard A, Brooks, Patrick T, Fallon, El, Samantha Burgess, CNN Burgess Organizations: CNN, Northern, United Nations, “, World Meteorological Organization, Getty, Southern, North Atlantic Locations: United States, Europe, Japan, Tokyo, AFP, Phoenix , Arizona, Australia, Antarctica, Atlantic, Pacific, Florida

Last month was the hottest August on record, topping off the hottest summer on record, according to climate scientists. June through August was the warmest summer on record globally by a “large margin,” according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Well-above average temperatures also occurred in Australia, several South American countries and around much of Antarctica, according to the service. Climate change certainly left its mark on the summer, with one report finding that more than 80% of humanity – or 4 in 5 people – experienced a hotter July largely due to human-caused climate change. Cartoons on Climate Change View All 167 Images“The dog days of summer are not just barking, they are biting,” António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, said in a statement.

Persons: Samantha Burgess, –, António Guterres, El, Burgess Organizations: United Nations Locations: U.S, Europe, Asia, Australia, Antarctica

☆ Undying Dread: A 400-Year-Old Corpse, Locked to Its Grave
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Franz Lidz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In one account, from 1674, a dead man rose from his tomb to assault his relatives; when his grave was opened, the corpse was unnaturally preserved and bore traces of fresh blood. In 1746, a Benedictine monk named Antoine Augustin Calmet published a popular treatise that sought, among other things, to distinguish real revenants from frauds. Four centuries later, archaeologists in Europe have discovered the first physical evidence of a suspected child revenant. “The padlock would have been locked to the big toe,” Dariusz Poliński, the lead archaeologist on the study, said through a translator. Sometime after burial, the grave was desecrated and all the bones removed except those of the lower legs.

Persons: —, Antoine Augustin Calmet, revenant, Nicolaus, Dariusz Poliński Organizations: Nicolaus Copernicus University Locations: Poland, Europe, Pień, Polish, Bydgoszcz, Toruń

☆ Greece rescues 25 migrants from deadly Evros wildfire
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Alexandros Avramidis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis Acquire Licensing RightsEVROS, Greece,/ATHENS Sept 1 (Reuters) - Greece on Friday rescued a group of 25 migrants trapped in a wildfire which has been burning in the northeastern region of Evros for almost two weeks, authorities said. The wildfire in Evros, Europe's deadliest this summer, burned for a 14th day after killing at least 20 people, destroying homes and livelihoods and scorching lush forests. Evros is a popular crossing into the European Union for thousands of migrants and refugees every year. Aircraft and hundreds of firefighters battled the blaze in the Dadia Forest amid fast-changing winds on Friday. Switzerland said on Friday it will dispatch three army helicopters and personnel to help firefighting in Evros.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Ioannis Artopoios, Copernicus, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Lefteris Papadimas, Angeliki Koutantou, Andy Sullivan Organizations: REUTERS, European Union, Aircraft, Reuters, Copernicus Emergency Management Service, New York City's, Wildlife Fund, Thomson Locations: Evros, Greece, ATHENS, Turkey, Dadia, Giannouli, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, New York, Soufli, Switzerland

☆ Greece to launch drones, temperature sensors to better fight wildfires
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Cows stand in front of a burned hill as a wildfire burns at Dadia National Park in the region of Evros, Greece, August 29, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis Acquire Licensing RightsATHENS, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Greece's prime minister said on Thursday it would launch drones and install forest temperature sensors to improve preventive firefighting after criticism from climate activists over a devastating wildfire burning for almost two weeks. He said authorities had initiated steps to acquire more than 100 drones to monitor wildfires in real time. Mitsotakis said tens of millions of euros were spent in wildfire prevention this year but that was still not enough. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said at least 30% of Greece's protected Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest had been lost.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Mitsotakis, it's, Angeliki, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Greece's, Emergency Management Service, New York City's, Wildlife Fund, Thomson Locations: Evros, Greece, New York, Soufli

[1/4] Smoke rises as a wildfire burns at Dadia National Park in the region of Evros, Greece, August 29, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis Acquire Licensing RightsATHENS, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A wildfire burning in northeastern Greece for 11 days has destroyed an area larger than New York City, the European Union-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Tuesday, as firefighters from five countries battled to contain the flames. New York City takes up 778.2 square kilometres (300.5 square miles). Panagiota Maragou, head of conservation at the Greece division of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said at least 30% of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest had been lost to flames. Thanks to its high biodiversity, the national park was "one of the most important protected areas in Greece and also in Europe, perhaps also on an international scale", she said.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Copernicus, Jiri Nemcik, Maragou, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, We've, Karolina Tagaris, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Union, Twitter, Emergency Management Service, New York City, . Aircraft, World Wildlife Fund, of, Thomson Locations: Evros, Greece, New York City, Alexandroupolis, New York, Serbia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Albania, Czech, Soufli, Europe, Athens, Turkey

☆ Greece battles Europe's deadliest fire of the summer for 10th day
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] View of a burned forest following a wildfire, near the village of Avantas in the region of Evros, Greece, August 28, 2023. The fire which began near the city of Alexandroupolis has raged uncontrolled in northeastern Greece's Evros region, turbocharged by near-gale force winds and high temperatures. All but one of the victims killed so far were irregular migrants hiding in the forest. Scores of people have had to flee their homes across Greece as hundreds of wildfires erupted across the country in the second major fire outbreak of this summer. In July, some 20,000 foreign tourists were evacuated from the island of Rhodes where a wildfire burned resorts and hotels.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Pavlos Marinakis, Marinakis, Karolina Tagaris, Lefteris Papadimas, Renee Maltezou, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Union, Copernicus, Service, Civil, Thomson Locations: Avantas, Evros, Greece, Alexandroupolis, Greece's Evros, Athens, Rhodes

☆ Around 10,000 penguin chicks died when the Antarctic ice they lived on melted — they were still too young to survive in the icy water
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Around 10,000 penguin chicks died after an ice bed they lived on broke apart, the BBC said. The emperor penguin chicks, who had not yet developed waterproof feathers, died last October. AdvertisementAdvertisement"Emperors depend on sea ice for their breeding cycle; it's the stable platform they use to bring up their young. Smyley Island emperor penguin colony on October 28, 2022 (left) versus December 3, 2022 (right). By the end of December 2022, sea ice extent was the lowest experienced in the 45-year satellite record.

Persons: Dr, Peter Fretwell Organizations: BBC, Service, British Antarctic Survey, Copernicus Sentinel Locations: Wall, Silicon, Bellingshausen, Antarctica

☆ Fact Check-High temperatures in the early 20th century don’t disprove climate warming
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

An inaccurate table of record-high temperatures in Europe circulating online shows that a handful of records set before 1950 still stand, but also that most records in specific cities were set after 2000. !” to imply that recent heat records set in Europe are not new. However, the post’s implication that record-high temperatures disprove climate warming is unsupported by further evidence. Temperatures for Europe as a whole show long-term warming trends with several countries having revised their all-time heat records over the past few years. Historical local heat records are not evidence for or against overall climate warming.

Persons: “, Belgium’s, Copernicus, Read Organizations: State, Reuters Locations: Europe, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, England, Ventspils, Daugavpils, Begijnendijk, Uccle, Slovenia, Netherlands

CNN —The burned bodies of 18 people were found as wildfires ripped through Greece on Tuesday and countries across Europe sweltered under yet another extreme heat wave. As dozens of wildfires scorch Greece, other parts of the region are suffering under intense heat, as Europe’s summer of extremes continues. Red heat warningsAs parts of Greece and Spain burn, temperatures are reaching record levels in other parts of Europe. These regions are all experiencing very high temperatures, with some pushing above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Savona, in the northwest, saw an all-time record high of 39.1 degrees Celsius (102.4 Fahrenheit) on Monday.

Persons: Yiannis Artopios, Nikos Gioktsidis, “ I’ve, I’ve, Spyros Bakalis, Alexandroupolis, Dimitris Alexoudis, Artopios, Pedro Sánchez, –, MeteoAlarm, Igor Ferreira, Montbel, Alain Pitton, Aurélien Rousseau, Maximiliano Herrera, Martin, Rousseau, MeteoSchweiz Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Emergency Management Service, Firefighters, Getty, European Union, country’s, BFMTV, Puy St, Northern Locations: Greece, Europe, Athens, Alexandroupolis, Prodromos, AFP, Thrace, Cyprus, Romania, ANMA, Rhodes, Tenerife, Canary, Spanish, Spain, France, Drôme, Haute, Loire, Rhône, Puy, Italy, Savona, Switzerland, Swiss

☆ A 15-year-old medieval girl was buried face down with her ankles possibly tied together to stop her from returning from the dead, researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A 9th century gravesite unearthed in England suggests ancient settlers may have feared the undead. Researchers with the Museum of London Archeology discovered a 15-year-old girl buried face-down. Archeologists, however, discovered the Conington girl buried face-down in a pit that marked the entrance to the small settlement and believe her ankles may have also been tied together, according to the MOLA statement. Archeologists unearthed the remains of a 15-year-old girl in a Medieval settlement near Conington, Cambridgeshire several years ago. "Her burial rites may have reflected the nature of her death, or her social identity or that of her family."

Persons: MOLA, Don Walker, Matteo Borrini, Osteologists, Nicolaus, Walker Organizations: Museum of London Archeology, Service, Privacy, Museum of London, Infrastructure, Conington . Oxford, Liverpool John Moores University, MOLA Headland, Nicolaus Copernicus University Locations: England, Wall, Silicon, Conington , Cambridgeshire, MOLA, Conington, Europe, Cambridgeshire

☆ How climate change drives heatwaves and wildfires in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here's how climate change drives these events. FINGERPRINTS OF CLIMATE CHANGETo find out exactly how much climate change affected a specific heatwave, scientists conduct "attribution studies". CLIMATE CHANGE DRIVES WILDFIRESClimate change increases hot and dry conditions that help fires spread faster, burn longer and rage more intensely. The study found that human-induced climate change played an absolutely overwhelming role in the extreme heatwaves that swept across North America, Europe and China in July. But scientists concur that without steep cuts to the greenhouse gases causing climate change, heatwaves, wildfires, flooding and drought will significantly worsen.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Friederike Otto, Sonia Seneviratne, Seneviratne, Rhodes, Copernicus, Mark Parrington, Victor Resco de, Kate Abnett, Gloria Dickie, Katy Daigle, Barbara Lewis, Josie Kao, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Firefighters, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, Union, Spain's Lleida University, Thomson Locations: Sesklo, Greece, Europe, Spain, France, Netherlands, Paris, North America, China, Victor Resco de Dios

☆ Europe space chief warns over political wavering on climate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"It just confirms that climate change is the biggest threat to our planet, to humankind, and will remain so for the next decades and we do need to do everything we can to mitigate the effects." Scientists say climate change is making heatwaves more frequent, intense and likely to happen across seasons, not just in what were regarded as the summer months. "Acting now is much cheaper than waiting for years and then patching up the damage that has been caused," he said when asked if he saw any signs of drift in Europe's climate agenda. FUNDING GAP AND 'GLOBAL BOILING'Aschbacher is among the most senior climate-monitoring officials to voice concerns over wavering support for measures to combat climate change - a creeping negative reaction that some climate activists have labelled "greenlash". This would significantly impact Europe’s commitment to combating climate change."

Persons: Josef Aschbacher, Aschbacher, Copernicus, Rishi Sunak, Ashbacher, Antonio Guterres, ESA's Copernicus, Tim Hepher, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Copernicus Sentinel, European Space Agency, Handout, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Meterological Organization, ESA, GAP, Sentinel, European Union, Negotiations, European Commission, EU, Britain's Department for Science, Innovation, Technology, Thomson Locations: Odemira, Alentejo, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain, Paris, Europe, Britain

☆ Oceans absorb 90% of the heat from climate change — here's why record ocean temps are so harmful
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +22 min

"Over 90 percent of the excess energy on earth due to climate change is found in warmer oceans, some of it in surface oceans and some at depth." Put simply, the greenhouse gases serve to trap more heat, some of which is absorbed by the ocean," Kirtman told CNBC. In addition to the daily record on July 31, the monthly sea surface temperature for July was the hottest July on record, "by far," Copernicus said. CopernicusThese record sea surface temperatures arise from multiple factors, including the El Niño weather pattern, which is currently in effect. "These climate variations occur when sea surface temperature patterns of warming and cooling self-reinforce by changing patterns of winds and precipitation that deepen the sea surface temperature changes."

Persons: Baylor, Carlos E, Del Castillo, Castillo, Benjamin Kirtman, Kirtman, Copernicus, Gavin Schmidt, Kemper, Zeke Hausfather, Sarah Kapnick, Kapnick, Kempler, Hurricane Ian, Michael Lowry, Lowry, Rainer Froese, Daniel Pauly, Pauly, Vigfus, pollack, Sean Gallup, Lorenz Hauser, Hauser, Froese, Phanor Montoya, Javier, Carolyn Cole, Hans W, Paerl, Justin Sullivan, Christopher Gobler, Gobler, Gary Griggs, Kimberly McKenna, Angela Weiss, Griggs, it's, Judith Kildow, Kildow, It's Organizations: International, Baylor Fox, Kemper, Brown University, CNBC, Ecology Laboratory, NASA, University of Miami, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Fox, El, Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, heatwave, NOAA, Northern Hemisphere, Miami Herald, Tribune, Service, Getty, Helmholtz, Ocean Research, University of British Columbia's Institute, Fisheries, School of, Fishery Sciences, Restoration Foundation, Coral Restoration Foundation, Looe Key, Los Angeles Times, University of North, Chapel Hill's Institute of Marine Sciences, Berkeley Marina, San, Quality, Centers for Disease Control, Stony Brooke University's School of Marine, Atmospheric Sciences, University of California, Stockton University Coastal Research, Afp, Ocean Economics Locations: Florida, El, Pacific, Berkeley, Fort Myers, Hurricane, Germany, New York, Nova Scotia, Hofn, Hornafjordur, Iceland, Seattle, Alaska, Looe, University of North Carolina, San Francisco Bay, Berkeley , California, San Francisco, Europe, Santa Cruz, Atlantic City , New Jersey, Atlantic City, Antarctica, Greenland

☆ Record-setting Canadian wildfires could persist for rest of 'marathon' summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Jesse Winter/File PhotoOTTAWA, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Record-setting wildfires in Canada could potentially continue burning at an abnormally high rate for several more weeks, though the spread of blazes is likely to start diminishing in September, according to federal projections released on Friday. "This summer has turned into a challenging marathon," Canadian Forest Service official Michael Norton told a media briefing on Friday. "Our most recent projections indicate the potential for higher-than-normal fire activity remains across much of Canada in August and September," Norton said. The fires have also sent plumes of smoke across Canadian and U.S. skies, raising health alarms and concerning scientists about the impact on the atmosphere. The EU's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service estimated last week that Canadian wildfires have released 290 million metric tons of carbon, over 25% of the global total for 2023 to date, and emissions are set to rise as hundreds of flames rage on.

Persons: Jesse Winter, Michael Norton, Norton, Ismail Shakil, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, OTTAWA, Forest Service, Atmospheric Monitoring Service, Thomson Locations: Canada, U.S, Washington, Osoyoos, British Columbia, Ottawa

☆ Canadian wildfires could persist for rest of 'marathon' summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"This summer has turned into a challenging marathon," Canadian Forest Service official Michael Norton told a media briefing on Friday. "Our most recent projections indicate the potential for higher-than-normal fire activity remains across much of Canada in August and September," Norton said. The fires have also sent plumes of smoke across Canadian and U.S. skies, raising health alarms and concerning scientists about the impact on the atmosphere. The EU's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service estimated last week that Canadian wildfires have released 290 million metric tons of carbon, over 25% of the global total for 2023 to date, and emissions are set to rise as hundreds of flames rage on. Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Archaeologists Find 'Vampire Child' Padlocked in Polish Graveyard
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Researchers have unearthed the skeletal remains of a "vampire child" in a Polish graveyard. The child was buried face down with a triangular padlock on its foot. The skeletal remains of the child, who anthropologists believe was 5 to 7 years old, were discovered in an unmarked, mass cemetery in the Polish village of Pień, near Ostromecko. Triangular padlocks were attached to people’s feet to keep them tethered to the ground once buried, Poliński said. Courtesy of Dariusz PolińskiThere are several reasons a person may have been buried in such a cemetery, Poliński said.

Persons: Dariusz Poliński, Nicolaus, Poliński, Dariusz, Dariusz Poliński Matteo Borrini, Insider's Katherine Tangalakis, Marianne Guenot, Borrini Organizations: Christian Europe, Service, Privacy, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Liverpool John Moore University Locations: Wall, Silicon, Polish, Pień, Ostromecko

July was Earth’s hottest month on record, surpassing the global monthly average temperature record set in July 2019, according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, a European Union-funded scientific agency. Deadly heat blanketed parts of North America, Asia and Europe as wildfires blazed in Greece and Canada, hitting economies. Water shortages and high humidity affected parts of the Middle East. Residents in China contended with both extreme flooding and a heat wave as the country set a new national temperature record. All this came on the heels of the world’s hottest June on record.

Organizations: Residents Locations: Union, North America, Asia, Europe, Greece, Canada, East, China

☆ It’s official: Scientists confirm July was the hottest month ever recorded
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Global air and ocean temperatures soared to a record high in July, according to the EU's climate change service Copernicus, deepening concern among climate scientists at a time when a spate of heat records suggest the planet has entered uncharted territory. The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said Tuesday that the global average surface air temperature in July was confirmed to be the highest on record for any month. July was found to be a whopping 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the average for the 1850-1900 period and 0.33 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous warmest month of July 2019. Meanwhile, global average sea surface temperatures continued to rise in July, the EU's climate monitor said, after a long period of unusually high temperatures stretching back to April. For the month as a whole, the planet's average sea surface temperature was 0.51 degrees Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 average.

Persons: Copernicus, Samantha Burgess, C3S Organizations: South Locations: Europe, North Africa, East, Asia

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