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- Currently in Denver — October 27, 2023: Wet and Cold Weekend
Currently in Denver — October 27, 2023: Wet and Cold Weekend
Plus, a scary new prognosis for ice in Antarctica.
Julia Dinmore & Eric Holthaus
October 26, 2023
The weather, currently.
Wet and Cold Weekend
Thursday’s fog was a strange little surprise. Felt like waking up in Forks, Washington, with Edward Cullen watching me sleep from across the room (I wish).
Good news: Friday comes with sunny skies despite the cooler temperatures. We’ve got a high of 50 and a low around 30 in the evening. Clouds will roll in as the day goes on.
Mother Nature really decided to pop off with high temperatures of 36 and 30 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Both days could come with some precipitation—probably rain after 1pm on Saturday and a high likelihood of SNOW on Sunday❄️. Please, I beg you, step on some leaf piles while you still can. I promise it will bring you joy 🍂
What you need to know, currently.
Ocean warming will triple for the rest of this century near the vulnerable West Antarctica ice sheet, according to a new study out this week. Even more worrying, over the next ~20 years, there is no statistical difference between the course global emissions take and the melt rates of key ice shelves which hold back enormous Antarctic glaciers.
We’ve spent the last few years modelling the future of the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica, and I regret to inform you that it’s not good news.
— Dr Kaitlin Naughten (@kaitlinnaughten)
3:12 PM • Oct 23, 2023
Here’s more, from The Guardian:
Accelerated ice melt in west Antarctica is inevitable for the rest of the century no matter how much carbon emissions are cut, research indicates. The implications for sea level rise are “dire”, scientists say, and mean some coastal cities may have to be abandoned.
The ice sheet of west Antarctica would push up the oceans by 5 metres if lost completely. Previous studies have suggested it is doomed to collapse over the course of centuries, but the new study shows that even drastic emissions cuts in the coming decades will not slow the melting.
It’s times like these that I always refer back to the original scientists that conduct these important studies. In this case, I’ll give the final word to Kaitlin Naughten, the scientist for the British Antarctic Survey that led the study’s research: “I would hate for people to read this story and think “we should give up on climate action, we’re all doomed anyway”. We must remember that West Antarctica is just one cause of sea level rise, and sea level rise is just one impact of climate change.”
Basically: It is never, ever too late.
Naughten’s parallel essay on her team’s findings is worth a read for everyone — and a worthy call to courage in a time of bad climate news.
What you can do, currently.
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One of my favorite organizations, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, serves as a hub of mutual aid efforts focused on climate action in emergencies — like hurricane season. Find mutual aid network near you and join, or donate to support existing networks:
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