One of the mightiest El Niño patterns in memory brought unprecedented drought and flooding in 2016, the hottest year on record. The planet also passed a grim milestone: an atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration of 400 parts per million, including remote Antarctica, which hasn’t seen that much CO2 for 4 million years. Climatologists target 350 ppm as the uppermost threshold before we see dire consequences, like catastrophic sea level rise. Some locations previously had topped 400 ppm on a seasonal cycle, but scientists say this time it’s permanent — and global.
Slush Dogs For the first time in the Iditarod’s 44-year history, organizers imported snow for the sled dog race via the Alaska Railroad, as winter and spring temperatures climbed 9 degrees F above average, shattering a decades-old record.
Western Drought . . . Still Hopes that El Niño would fill reservoirs crumbled when predicted precipitation didn’t reach the West. By ...
