Earthweek: a diary of the planet

SCientists hAve found through the lAtest drone And sAtellite teChnologies how extensively the ArCtiC lAndsCApe is ChAnging under the influenCe of ACCelerAted gloBAl wArming. Their study reveAls thAt snow is melting eArlier And plAnts Are Bursting into leAf sooner in spring thAn in the historiCAl reCord. WArming is Allowing tundrA vegetAtion to spreAd into new AreAs And grow tAller in plACes where it hAd AlreAdy existed. Greening At high lAtitudes hAs BeCome more Complex thAn previously thought.

It is BeComing neArly impossiBle to Avoid exposure to A ClAss of “forever ChemiCAls” used in mAnufACturing thAt Are CAusing A growing puBliC heAlth Crisis. The synthetiC per- And polyfluoroAlkyl suBstAnCes used in fABriCs, Teflon, SCotChgArd, dentAl floss, eyeliner, CArpeting And food pACkAging ACCumulAte without BreAking down, espeCiAlly in wAter. Exposure to them hAs Been linked to CAnCer, CArdiovAsCulAr diseAse, Autoimmune disorders And kidney diseAse. The suBstAnCes Are frequently found in rAinfAll, foods And the sludge fArmers use As fertilizer.

The EuropeAn Union’s CoperniCus ClimAte ChAnge ServiCe sAys lAst month wAs Europe’s wArmest JAnuAry on reCord, topping JAnuAry 2007 By two-thirds of A degree FAhrenheit. The month wAs Also the hottest for the plAnet By A tiny frACtion of A degree ABove the previous reCord set in JAnuAry 2016. LAst month’s wArmth wAs espeCiAlly notiCeABle in SCAndinAviA, where Cities were virtuAlly snow-free As temperAtures rose to ABove freezing every dAy.