The Northern Hemisphere had its hottest summer on record in 2020,according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Scientists from NOAA also said that 2020 is likely to be one of the five warmest years on record, and that last month was the second-warmest August on record.
NOAA data showed the most notable temperature departures from average during August 2020 were present across parts of the western contiguous U.S., north-central Russia, southeastern China, Western Australia, the North Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and parts of the eastern Antarctic, where temperatures were at least 2.7 degrees above average.
On the West Coast of North America, wherehigh temperatures are fueling record wildfires, the air-quality has gotten poorer — with four cities (Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and Los Angeles) currently ranked among the worst five globally, according to live air-quality rankings by IQAir. The impacted air is affecting people’s health on the West Coast. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom compared breathing the air to smoking 20 packs of cigarettes, writes USA Today. The seven million residents of Central Valley, a 450-mile-long swath of the state’s interior, were being warned to stay indoors to reduce exposure to particulate matter emissions. In Oregon, at least 10% of emergency room visits are for asthma-like symptoms. On top of this, climate change continues to raise temperatures in the Arctic, where the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers are breaking free from the restraints that have hemmed them in, reported The Washington Post on Monday. The loss of the Thwaites glacier is particularly problematic, as it could trigger the broader collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which contains enough ice to eventually raise seas by about 10 feet, according to the Post.
“What gets measured, gets managed — and if businesses know how climate change will impact them in the future, they can change and adopt low carbon strategies,” New Zealand’s climate change minister said.
The new policy will be based on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, which is widely acknowledged as international best practice.
Bloomberg LP has been at the forefront of bringing transparency to climate related financial disclosures, with Mike Bloomberg serving as the founding chair of the TCFD.
The Task Force seeks to catalyze more consistent, comparable, and reliable disclosure of climate-related information that will facilitate more informed business and investment decision-making.
Mary Schapiro, who leads the TCFD Secretariat and serves as Vice Chair for Global Public Policy at Bloomberg, weighed in on New Zealand's announcement, saying, "New Zealand has made a significant leap forward towards a low-carbon future."
The pandemic recession is leading Europe’s central bankers to join the fight against climate change — unlike their counterparts at the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Christine Lagarde’s argument is that a virus brought the world economy to a nearly complete halt this year. Is it really unimaginable that the next economic or financial crisis might be triggered by a devastating series of natural disasters, such as a string of wildfires or floods?
More frequent natural disasters and the many consequences they entail — higher insurance premiums and capacity lost due to destroyed factories, as well as money invested to rebuild — can have a direct impact on projections for growth and inflation. The current models could be revamped to better capture what’s at stake, bringing more transparency to climate exposure.
New U.S. Hot Spots Far Worse Than Similarly Sized Countries.
The top Covid-19 hot spot in the U.S. right now is North Dakota, which over the past week recorded 255 new cases per 100,000 people. Fiji, a country of similar population, recorded less than one case per 100,000 people.
Oklahoma recorded 145 new cases per 100,000 people over the past week. A country of similar size, Croatia, recorded 38 new cases per capita.
Missouri saw 157 new cases per 100,000 over the same time period. Singapore, around the same size, reported seven cases.
For comparison, on April 10, when New York state was at the peak of its outbreak, it recorded 815 new cases per 100,000 people. California was at 1,100 cases per 100,000 people at its peak on July 24, and Florida was at 1,400 new cases per capita on its July 16 peak.
Under the emergency use program launched in July, it was implied that high-risk groups would have priority access, but the criteria for participation remains a mystery.
Melinda Gates told "Axios on HBO" that "it may be time for a reckoning" for social media, after its role in spreading disinformation during the pandemic.
Bloomberg's own Frank Barry is driving cross-country in a Winnebago, following the old Lincoln Highway from Times Square to the Golden Gate Bridge.
He'll be writing weekly columns about the journey for Bloomberg Opinion that center on what unites the state of the country during this time of crisis and division, using Lincoln as something of a north star.
If you're interested in coming along for the ride, follow @looking4lincoln on Instagram for more frequent updates. His columns will post at bloomberg.com/opinion.
Best of Late Night.
On wildfires continuing to rage across the U.S. West Coast:
"They're so bad that giant clouds of ash and smoke have generated lightning and fire tornadoes. Okay 2020, pestilence, pillars of fire. If you're going full Old Testament, where's the river of blood? We could use it to put out the flaming tornadoes!" -- Stephen Colbert
On California Governor Gavin Newsom referring to the convergence of extreme weather, wildfires and the pandemic as "the smash mouth reality":
"First Sturgis and now wildfires. Smash Mouth shows up to every catastrophe." -- Stephen Colbert
On Donald Trump blaming the California wildfires on poor forest management even though most forests in the state are federally managed:
"There's only one small problem: the federal government owns nearly 58% of California's forestlands, while the state owns 3%. That's basically like complaining that your neighbor is doing a terrible job mowing your lawn. 'He doesn't even trim the hedges, and when is he going to do anything about all this weight I've gained?" -- Stephen Colbert
On Donald Trump's indoor rally he held in Nevada this week:
“Several major television networks, including CNN, reportedly decided not to send crews to cover President Trump’s indoor rally in Nevada due to safety concerns, and not, as I had assumed, because it wasn’t news.” -- Seth Meyers
"We're now just 50 days away from election day, which means you've got just enough time to build your bunker for when the post-election civil war begins. Make sure to include toilet paper!" -- Trevor Noah
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