Posted on 27 September 2020 by John Hartz

Story of the Week...

The Warming Climates of the Arctic and the Tropics Squeeze the Mid-latitudes, Where Most People Live

Melting Arctic ice sends extreme winter storms from the north, while the expanding tropics press the mid-latitudes from the south.

A man wipes water away following floods in Anduze, France on Sept. 19, 2020. Recent research shows that significant climate shifts in the Arctic and tropics are both contributing to increasing climate extremes like flooding and droughts in the mid-latitudes, where most people live and where most of the planet's food-producing areas are located. Credit: Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images.

For humans, the mid-latitudes are Earth's climate sweet spots, where much of civilization, including cities and key food production areas, have developed. But those zones are increasingly being pummeled by climate change from both the north and south.

The Arctic is lashing out with the icy whip of an increasingly twisted and unpredictable winter storm track that drives flooding in Great Britain and cold snaps in Canada, while areas like the Southwest United States and around the Mediterranean Sea are drying out as the planet's hot tropical belts expand relentlessly poleward.

Recent research explains how global warming is intensifying those extremes and shows how the planet's climate system is like an accordion—no matter which corner you tug or push, all the bellows in between are affected.

Click here to access the entire article originally published on the InsideClimate News website.

The Warming Climates of the Arctic and the Tropics Squeeze the Mid-latitudes, Where Most People Live by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Sep 23, 2020

Toon of the Week...

Hat tip to the Stop Climate Science Denial Facebook page.

Coming Soon on SkS...

• How Climate Change is Worsening California Wildfires (Dana)
• With Teddy and Beta no longer threats, Atlantic hurricane season takes a break (Bob Henson)
• SkS New Research for Week #39 (Doug Bostrom)
• UK's Radical Citizens Climate Assembly (Climate Adam)
• Event information: 24 Hours of Reality - Countdown to the Future (Baerbel)
• 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #40 (John Hartz)
• 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #40 (John Hartz)

Climate Feedback Claim Review...

Climate change, forest management and several other causes contribute to wildfire severity and total area burned in the western United States

CLAIM: “Forest fires are caused by poor management. Not by climate change.”

VERDICT: 

SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook, 9 Sept 2020

KEY TAKE AWAY: In addition to land management practices, the severity of wildfires in the western US is influenced by extreme heat, drought, and the amount of dry vegetative fuel, which are all linked to human-caused climate change. Climate change is not the only factor that affects fire behavior, but it is an important one. Since 1984, the forest fire area in the western US likely doubled due to climate change.

Climate change, forest management and several other causes contribute to wildfire severity and total area burned in the western United States, Edited by Nikki Forrester, Climate Feedback, Sep 19, 2020

SkS Week in Review... 

• Sun: 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #38 by John Hartz (SkS Original)
• Mon: Wind and solar are 30-50% cheaper than thought, admits UK government by Simon Evans (Carbon Brief Repost)
• Tue: Why does land warm up faster than the oceans? by Micheal Byrne (Carbon Brief Repost)
• Wed: Skeptical Science New Research for Week #38, 2020 by Doug Bostrom (SkS Original)
• Fri: Interactive: What is the climate impact of eating meat and dairy? by Daisy Dunne (Cabon Brief Repost) 
• Sat: 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #39 by John Hartz (SkS Original) 

Poster of the Week...