When I visited the Perito Moreno glacier in 2013, it was one of the few glaciers in the Americas, and in the world, that was not retreating. It was stable and in some years expanding. That’s no longer the case.
53 photos of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Last night’s Waxing Gibbous moon over the Kvarner Gulf in the northern Adriatic from Rijeka. Rijeka, Croatia, 23 August 2026
The previous high of 21.09 C (69.96 F) occurred in March 2024. From the report:
Average ocean temperatures hit a record 21.10 degrees Celsius (69.98 degrees Fahrenheit) on August 22, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
That’s not as hot as a warm bath, but it is the hottest the world’s oceans have been since C3S started keeping records in 1979.
“As a climate scientist, this is not surprising to me all,” says Zachary Labe, a climate scientist at Climate Central, a climate research nonprofit. “It’s consistent with decades of research showing how our climate is changing as the planet warms. And without reductions in the burning of fossil fuels, this warming will only continue.”
Link.
We’re back in Rijeka for the week where I plan to do some ship-spotting from the balcony, like tonight. At left is the Sara Star, a container ship that was parked in this spot for two days before heading onward to the port of Bakar just a few kilometers up the coast. And at right,… Continue reading
The short answer: agrivoltaics produce shade that reduces evaporation and plant stress – while generating clean electricity. From the story:
Researchers around the world are finding that instead of solar panels stopping plants from flourishing, what with all that shade, they can supercharge growth. Many plants evolved to grow in the dappled light of the forest floor, for instance, and struggle under full sun. The partner groups and farmers in Egypt are experimenting with different arrangements of panels, like a checkerboard. This doesn’t generate as much electricity as a sprawling solar farm, with row after row of solid panels with few gaps, but it lets more sunlight reach the crops.
For now, the power generated is helping to run irrigation equipment at one of the two pilot project communities,
but could also potentially power desalination plants for purifying the region’s brackish water. With that additional H2O, more places could support agriculture and agrivoltaics — a self-reinforcing cycle.
Link.
Research is in the early stages but scientists have found:
That people are being exposed to more toxins than previously known, and beyond damaging lungs, wildfire smoke may affect hearts, brains and other organs. One study in 2025 estimated that smoke could kill as many as 1.9 million people in the United States over three decades.
And
Wildfire pollution is often measured by the concentration of airborne particles known as PM2.5, which can penetrate deep into the lungs.
But that can understate risk, said Kari Nadeau, a physician and dean of the U.C.L.A. Fielding School of Public Health, who is studying the consequences of the 2025 Los Angeles fires. That’s because PM2.5, a primary pollutant measured by air quality indexes, doesn’t reflect other substances that wildfire smoke can contain, including lead, mercury and formaldehyde.
The NYT story will be updated as new research is published. This gift link expires in 30 days; I’ll try to remember to update it once a month but if you cross paths with the post and find that the link no longer works, let me know and I’ll update it.
Link.
The finest mosaic clock/mural combo on the planet – a permanent fixture at the main train station in Pardubice, Czech Republic.
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(For Wordless Wednesday.)
Continue readingThe 36th annual State of the Climate report, led by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was released by the American Meteorological Society on 10 August. The key takeaways: greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea level, and ocean heat content all reached record highs in 2025.
Notable findings:
As if neatly dressed in a pressed vest.
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Sharing a sunset view in four scenes of Kukova Špica (2427m/ 7962ft), a peak at the western end of Slovenia’s Martuljek mountain group in the Julian Alps, with a Eurasian Kestrel.
Continue readingA Guardian reporter and photographer traveled 100 miles (160km) along the banks of the Danube, the EU’s longest river, to document the impacts of its record-low levels. The Danube flows through or forms the border of 10 countries, making it most international river in the world. The describe crop loss and failure, unnavigable areas, and drinking water emergencies. Below, an account by the president of the Hungarian Cyclists Club who embarked on a bike ride on the river.
The water is so low in the capital that on 28 July, at about 4.30pm, Gábor Kürti, president of the Magyar Kerékpárosklub (Hungarian cyclists’ club) and owner of a cargo bike company, left his office in central Budapest, jumped on his bicycle and, in an unprecedented feat, rode for 30km along the exposed bed of the Danube, with his journey quickly going viral on social media.
“I wanted to show that if you can cycle along the bed of the Danube for 30km, it means that, because of this climate emergency, we have literally hit rock bottom,” he told the Guardian.
Riding his KTM X-Strada 20 gravel bike, Kürti set off from the mouth of the Szilas stream (Szilas-patak) and made his way across fine gravel, large pebbles, hard-packed sand and mud, eventually reaching the ferry terminal at Vác about three hours later.
“For many people it was an extraordinary adventure. For me, it was heartbreaking,” he said. “Cycling through parts of the river where, as a child, I used to swim or go kayaking, and which I could now cross on a bicycle, filled me with an indescribable sadness. It was like looking at the scene of a terrible accident. Throughout that journey, the scale of the catastrophe was unfolding before my eyes.”
Link.
From early 2008 when he set his first world record until the end of 2017 when he finally announced his retirement, my summers largely consisted of chasing Usain Bolt, still the world’s fastest man. A couple times I actually caught him.
Like here.
Continue readingWell grounded? Japanese designer Satoshi Nakagawa is using soil, compost and other everyday materials to generate small amounts of electricity that could power sensors, lights, and other low-energy devices in off-grid settings.
EuroNews via AFP reports:
Glinting in the night, halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like ‘Ku-An’ test lab is lit by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost.
Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity’s energy conundrum. Failing that, it at least looks nice and gets people thinking.
“As the population moves toward 10 billion, energy issues will become just as critical as food issues,” says Nakagawa, chief executive of design firm Tripod Design. “Even if it’s just a small contribution, I want people to be able to produce their own electricity using the soil around them,” the Japanese product designer and engineer told news agency AFP.
Link.
Observed where it’s most at home – at the edge of wet marshy areas, looking for bugs.
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Thursday’s door.
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(For Wordless Wednesday.)
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This ia a Eurasian Blackbird I crossed paths with last last winter in the Jardin Albert 1er park in Nice. It’s not uncommon for blackbirds to become bald, but this one clearly appeared in distress – and not only because its appearance lends that illusion.
Continue readingThe world’s oceans hit their highest temperatures on record for July, Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation program, reported today. Other stats of note for July 2026:
Said Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF):
“July 2026 was the third consecutive month of exceptional heat in western Europe, bringing the combined temperature for June and July to a new record for the region. Persistent high-pressure systems trapped heat over western Europe, the extreme temperatures also amplified widespread drought. As soils dry out, they lose their ability to provide natural cooling, allowing heat to build more readily. This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another.”
Link.
These are Mammatus clouds hovering over the Promenade des Anglais, drooping like mysterious celestial bubbles ready to burst. I don’t recall ever seeing them before, and hoped that my Sunday evening spotting turned out to be a rare sighting of a rare formation. Mammatus clouds are sometimes described as rare, but that’s a perception based… Continue reading