Atmospheric Sciences

This image of Hurricane Iona contains the infrared (band I5) product from NOAA-20 and is from 11:53 UTC on 2025-07-29.

Early yesterday morning, NOAA-20 captured high-resolution imagery of Hurricane Iona's small eye.

The storm has since weakened into a tropical storm.

The relative contribution of US CO2 emissions to global CO2 emissions is not the same anymore as 70-80 years ago, so the world’s rapid climate action and renewable transformation is now more relevant than stalling US climate policies

There’s a new acid in our rain — should we be worried? Scientists and regulators are divided over the threat posed by rising levels of a chemical called TFA.

Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in rain derives from fluorinated gases (F-gases) - such as HFC-134a - used as refrigerants, in building insulation and in anaesthetic gases. Levels are (yet) low.
Potential impact still undecided www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Or first half of 2023

First half of 2025 the EU had a 17% reduction in gas consumption it seems #eurostat

Emission-based forcing is the better metric from IPCC AR6 to calculate the present-day surface warming by methane emissions. Do not forget the ozone production. bsky.app/profile/atms...

Two graphs from the paper. The left graph shows US net greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2022. The official EPA estimates decline fairly steadily from 6.6 gigatonnes per year in 2005 to 5.5 in 2022 (17% below 2005 levels), largely reflecting natural gas displacing coal for electricity generation. The adjusted estimates, which reflect independent measurements of methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure, end at 6.3 gigatonnes per year in 2022 (only 5% below 2005 levels). The right graph shows 2022 emissions increasing linearly with the assumed global warming potential of methane. Climate scientists are divided on whether to use the 100-year GWP, 20-year GWP, or something in between. With methane warming impacts assessed via the 20-year GWP, the central 2022 emissions estimate is 7.9 gigatonnes per year - 20% *above* the EPA's official 2005 estimate. Caption: Figure 1: Left: United States net greenhouse gas emissions over time. Right: Scaling of 2022 net emissions with methane’s GWP. After adjustment to reflect recent measurements of methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure, United States net emissions remain nearly as high as their 2005 level.

New paper. I wish this wasn't the case, but most progress on reducing US greenhouse gas emissions is likely spurious. Why? EPA underestimates methane emissions from oil and gas. Relevant today as Repubs vote to gut IRA's methane monitoring/mitigation program. 🧵

authors.elsevier.com/a/1lL4K_6se4...

Emission-based forcing is the better metric from IPCC AR6 to calculate the present-day surface warming by methane emissions. Do not forget the ozone production. bsky.app/profile/atms...

Excerpt

The Future of Weather Prediction Is Here. Maybe.

The Future of Weather Prediction Is Here. Maybe. (Pay wall) www.nytimes.com/2025/07/13/b...

The influence of weather on large-scale energy droughts in Europe (webpage in Dutch, consider to translate foreign language webpages through your browser)

Interesting results in the CAMS Air Quality assessment report 2024 on the source apportionment for the traditional dirty fossil ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. The largest sectoral contribution during the 2 studied episodes stems
from…. agriculture(!)

Our #CopernicusAtmosphere Monitoring Service has released it's 10th assessment report on air quality in Europe! Read our article for more on 2024 ozone levels and particulate matter, and how our data informs European policies related to air quality. atmosphere.copernicus.eu/cams-release...

East Asian aerosol cleanup has likely contributed to the recent acceleration in global warming - Communications Earth & Environment Restrictions of atmospheric aerosol and precursor emissions in East Asia have contributed to the observed global surface warming acceleration since 2010, according to Earth System Model simulations is...

‘East Asian aerosol cleanup has likely contributed to the recent acceleration in global warming’

In Memoriam Prof. Hennie Kelder (1944 - 2025)

State of the UK Climate in 2024 This report provides a summary of the state of the UK's climate in 2024. It is one of a series of annual reports published in the International Journal of Climatology (IJC) since 2017. It provides th...

State of the UK climate 2024. About redwood forests and more.

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

This is a great article by Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social on how solar power hit an inflection point and has now become an unstoppable force.

A must read.

www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...

YouTube video by SRON TANGO greenhouse gas satellite

Watch this short explainer youtu.be/E2-J6LB0xLI

Dutch partners start construction of TANGO climate satellite to observe Greenhouse gases CO2 and methane, next to NO2 for fingerprinting CO2 related to (fossil fuel, biomass) burning

As NASA's budget shrinks, Europe doubles down on Earth science: 'Climate change is the defining challenge of our generation' If NASA must pull back, Europe is ready to step up — and do so with open arms.

As NASA's budget shrinks, Europe doubles down on Earth science

Windhoos van 14 juli 1975 Natuurblog met foto's

Another personal historical reconstruction (Spijk) bartjestruun.blogspot.com/2013/08/wind...

Strong whirlwinds in The Netherlands are quite rare so far www.knmi.nl/kennis-en-da...

The reconstructed path of the 14 July 1975 whirlwind based on damage reports.

14 July 1975. Groningen area. Reconstruction of the path of a whirlwind / light tornado. Maybe the strength of a whirlwind or tornado could be estimated from historical damage reports. Many trees seemed still standing up in this case.

YouTube video by SRON TANGO greenhouse gas satellite

Watch this short explainer youtu.be/E2-J6LB0xLI

Dutch partners start construction of TANGO climate satellite to observe Greenhouse gases CO2 and methane, next to NO2 for fingerprinting CO2 related to (fossil fuel, biomass) burning

Vandaag start de bouw van de TANGO-satellieten: een ESA-missie waarbij Nederland een grote rol speelt. Twee satellieten gaan wereldwijd broeikasgasemissies van CO2 en methaan meten op bronniveau. TANGO maakt zichtbaar wat onzichtbaar is. 🔗 www.knmi.nl/over-het-knm...

Aanzienlijke afkoeling recordwarme water Middellandse Zee #upwelling

Hurricane forecasters are losing 3 key satellites ahead of peak storm season − a meteorologist explains why it matters - Gettysburg Connection Chris Vagasky, University of Wisconsin-Madison

‘Hurricane forecasters are losing 3 key satellites ahead of peak storm season − a meteorologist explains why it matters’

These are awkward tendencies for meteorology, the observing systems and the provision of weather warnings. A lack of trust in people with (whatever) knowledge and/or working with (whatever) technology might crumble a complex society that is built on science and rational argumentation