The area and duration of heatwaves in the US during June used to be much higher prior to 60 years ago. One hundred degree days during June were more than twice as common during the 1930’s as they are now, with 1933, 1936, 1934, 1954, 1911 and 1916 being the hottest years.

Word is coming out of Washington that President Trump has finally made the decision to exit the Paris Agreement. There have already been various stories about the apocalypse waiting around the corner if that happens, not least from so-called scientists who should know better, eg:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-30/climate-danger-zone-seen-if-trump-pulls-u-s-out-of-paris-deal

But just what difference will it make to global emissions?

The melt rate of West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier is an important concern because this glacier alone is currently responsible for about 1 percent of global sea level rise. A new NASA study finds that Thwaites’ ice loss will continue, but not quite as rapidly as previous studies have estimated.

The first ever genetic analysis of mummies found that ancient Egyptian kings were more closely related to West Asians than Africans, according to a study published Tuesday by scientists at the Max Planck Institute.

Since the 1970s the northern polar region has warmed faster than global averages by a factor or two or more, in a process of ‘Arctic amplification’ which is linked to a drastic reduction in sea ice.

Paleontologists at the University of Manchester have definitively proven there will never be a Jurassic Park after re-analysing collagen from a Tyrannosaurus rex bone discovered more than a decade ago.

Measured temperatures in Iceland show a cyclical pattern, with the late 1930s warmer than the present. The measured data doesn’t fit NASA’s theory about CO2 driving climate, so they cool past temperatures to create the appearance of a warming trend.

Data.GISS: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis

Temperatures around 1940 are cooled more than two degrees centigrade.

Good luck studying glassfrogs. Even the largest ones are barely two inches long, they live only along secluded streams inside dense jungles, and their translucent green skin blends perfectly with the leaves they like to hide under. And just to make life even harder for biologists, some of them have completely transparent skin.

When a ballerina pirouettes, twirling a full revolution, she looks just as she did when she started. But for electrons and other subatomic particles, which follow the rules of quantum theory, that’s not necessarily so. When an electron moves around a closed path, ending up where it began, its physical state may or may not be the same as when it left.

Scientists have created the world’s thinnest hologram that can be seen without 3D goggles and may be integrated into everyday electronics such as smartphones, computers, and TVs.

It’s rare for animals to engage in what’s called “coordinated hunting” — but that’s exactly what Cuban boa snakes do, according to new research published in the journal Animal Behavior and Cognition.

Lighter-toned bedrock that surrounds fractures and comprises high concentrations of silica—called “halos”—has been found in Gale crater on Mars, indicating that the planet had liquid water much longer than previously believed. The new finding is reported in a paper published today in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

NASA has visited some awfully impressive places in the past 60 years, so it’s something of a wonder that the space agency hasn’t found its way to the sun by now. The New Horizons probe, which flew by Pluto in the summer of 2015, is now 3.5 billion miles (5.6 billion km) away; Voyager 1, launched in 1977, has left the solar system entirely, cruising through space at a remove of 11.7 billion miles (18.9 billion km) from Earth.

In a study published in the medical journal Gastroenterology, researchers of the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute found that twice as many adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) reported improvements from co-existing depression when they took a specific probiotic than adults with IBS who took a placebo.

The Paris Accord’s overriding goal is to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100. And if possible, the accord would like to “pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.” To do that, countries like the U.S. would have to dramatically reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and still remain competitive.

Ginger, as a supplement or an ingredient in food and drink, may protect against obesity and chronic disease, according to a new research review. While experts can’t yet recommend a specific dosage for preventive purposes, they say that consuming more of the pungent spice is smart for several reasons.