EARTHWATCH

Diary of the planet

Hottest year yet

Early calculations of weather data by the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation and Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service indicate that 2023 has been the warmest year on record globally. Two days in November were 2 degrees Celsius warmer globally than in preindustrial times. On average, Earth in 2023 was approximately 1.46 degrees Celsius warmer than in preindustrial times.

In hot water

A new study finds that the ocean surface is now warmer than at any other time since satellite records began, with the new heat energy threatening to super-charge storms around the world. Earlier studies revealed that the oceans are now heating more quickly than in the past 2,000 years.

Record emissions

A new report says this year’s carbon dioxide emissions are likely to reach an all-time high despite climate experts and the UN calling for them to be slashed to curb global heating.

Darkest winter

Residents across the eastern Great Lakes and Ontario endured their darkest winter in 73 years.

Toronto saw weeks in December 2022 and January 2023 with scant sunshine.

Higher calling

Puerto Rico’s famed coquí frogs are now croaking at a higher pitch, which scientists say is due to global heating. Comparisons of recordings made of the frog’s distinctive two-note call, “co-quí,” over the past 23 years reveal the change in pitch, says researcher Peter Narins of the University of California, Los Angeles. They write that the calls grew higher in pitch at every location studied.

Current slowdown

The deep ocean currents that carry vital heat, oxygen and nutrients throughout the world are slowing down around Antarctica in a trend scientists warn could have a massive effect on climate. Scientists say the trend is caused by rapidly melting Antarctic ice.

Orca see, orca do

Yacht owners around the Iberian Peninsula reported

Earthquakes

that orcas attacked their ships in a behavior marine mammal experts suggest is being copied by others of the species. Several of the craft were sent to the bottom of the sea by the assaults.

A pair of the most severe earthquakes to strike Turkey since 1939 killed more than 59,000 people and inflicted catastrophic damage to the south of the country and adjacent parts of Syria on Feb. 6.

• Eighteen people perished in southern Ecuador and neighboring parts of Peru on March 18 during an intense quake.

• One of the strongest quakes to strike France in modern times damaged dozens of homes on June 17.

• A catastrophic temblor in Morocco’s Marrakesh-Safi region on Sept. 8 killed 2,960 people and leveled entire villages near the epicenter.

• Four magnitude 6.3 earthquakes in western Afghanistan’s Herat province from Oct. 7 to Oct. 15 killed almost 1,500 people, mainly during the initial shaking.

• At least 153 people perished when a magnitude 5.7 temblor hit western Nepal and northern India on Nov. 3.

Java blast

A sudden eruption of Java’s Merapi volcano on Dec. 3 killed 23 climbers, who were caught by surprise on the slopes of Indonesia’s most active volcano. Nearby villages were