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Record El Niño could surge to unprecedented strength this year
23 hours ago•Source: The Washington Post
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2.865 min•9 days ago
Europe should normalize air conditioning to weatherproof heat
Vox argues that Europe should stop stigmatizing cooling and embrace air conditioning as a practical climate adaptation tool, since extreme heat is becoming more common and only a minority of European homes have AC. The piece notes Europe’s lag behind the U.S. in cooling prevalence and the fact that essential public spaces like schools and hospitals often lack AC. It contends that rather than a moral shortcoming, modern, energy-efficient cooling—paired with building design and grid resilience—can protect health, productivity, and welfare during heat waves.
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Europe cooks under record heat as millions face 30C+ across the continent
Europe endures another day of record heat, with forecasts showing about 380 million people above 30C and roughly 101 million above 35C, including 63 million in France; red alerts blanket parts of France as Brittany experiences power outages and a Paris-area child dies in a heat-related incident. In Spain, heat is linked to 212 deaths over four days and 98 excess deaths in 2025, while western Europe faces widespread highs into the 30s and 40s across Germany, Italy, Britain and beyond.
Algae blooms at the Reflecting Pool point to bigger climate-pollution problems
Experts say Trump’s pool-clearing efforts miss the real drivers of algae blooms—nutrient pollution and warming waters linked to climate change—making short-term fixes ineffective for preventing future blooms or protecting public health.
Rooftop solar shifts to Netflix-style subscriptions as tax credits fade
Ending federal solar tax credits is shifting rooftop solar economics toward leases and subscriptions: homeowners pay monthly and can cancel, with free panel removal if the deal isn’t right, potentially making leasing more attractive than buying.
Bipartisan Pressure Forces Pause on Ocean-Observing System Dismantling
The Trump administration has paused its plan to dismantle the $368 million Ocean Observatories Initiative after bipartisan backlash in Congress; the National Science Foundation will delay removing hundreds of depth instruments and will convene an expert panel to decide the future of the ocean-monitoring network.
El Niño forms in Pacific, raising risk of record heat and costly weather
Forecasters say El Niño has formed in the Pacific and could become one of the strongest on record, likely bringing hotter global temperatures, more extreme rainfall and floods in some regions, droughts in others, and substantial economic costs that could last through multiple seasons.
Trump Admin Dismantles Vital Deep-Ocean Monitoring Network
The Trump administration will dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $368 million deep-ocean monitoring network with about 900 instruments across the Pacific and Atlantic, removing in-water infrastructure over 15 months. Scientists warn the move could hamper fisheries management, weather forecasting, and understanding the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation amid record ocean warming and an impending El Niño.
El Niño reshapes where tropical storms form this year
El Niño—the warm phase of the ENSO cycle—tends to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity while shifting tropical-storm formation toward the Pacific, potentially increasing near-Hawaii activity and moving typhoons eastward in the Northwest Pacific; NOAA projects a below-normal Atlantic season this year (about 55% chance), with regional variations in storm numbers and tracks driven by ENSO phases.
El Niño Set to Push World Into Record Heat by 2030, WMO Warns
The UN's World Meteorological Organization warns a record-hot year is almost certain by 2030 as an El Niño is expected to lift temperatures; there is an 86% chance at least one year between 2026–2030 will surpass 2024 as the hottest on record and a 75% chance the five-year average will be more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Fossil-fuel emissions continue to rise, fueling deadly heatwaves and rising costs, with urgent action needed to meet the 1.5C goal; 2027 could become the next record year. The Arctic winters are projected to be about 2.8C hotter than recent averages, and rainfall is forecast to be wetter in northern Europe, the Sahel, Alaska and Siberia, but drier in the Amazon.
New Orleans' watery future prompts urgent relocation planning, scientists warn
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