Zack Labe
ZLabe@fediscience.org
<p>Climate Scientist (Atmospheric) at Climate Central | PhD | Sharing data-driven stories | Harrisburg, PA | Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are only my own</p><p>My research and communication interests coincide with disentangling patterns of climate change from climate variability using data-driven methods. Also, scary movie fan!</p><p><a href="https://fediscience.org/tags/Arctic" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Arctic</span></a> <a href="https://fediscience.org/tags/ClimateChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ClimateChange</span></a> <a href="https://fediscience.org/tags/DataViz" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>DataViz</span></a> <a href="https://fediscience.org/tags/MachineLearning" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>MachineLearning</span
Posts
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Temperature anomalies across the #Arctic over the last 12 months... Data from @CopernicusECMWF@masto.ai ERA5 reanalysis.
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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) State of the Climate Update 2026 was just released: https://wmo.int/resources/publication-series/state-of-climate-update-cop/state-of-climate-update-cop31 "We are supercharging our weather and El Niño will be a risk multiplier. Heatwaves, tropical cyclones, and rainstorms are intensifying faster than our historical baselines prepared us for." #COP31
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It was another October with huge temperature departures across the Siberian side of the #Arctic Ocean. This also corresponded with lower sea ice cover in these margins. As the freeze-up occurs, much of the stored heat gets transferred into the overlying atmosphere. Data from https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.f17050d7
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Global ocean temperatures have set new daily record highs for over 150 days! Questions about recent warming? Join our next webinar and bring them along! ➡️ Register here: https://climatecentral-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/5817787808929/WN_hwCN6TJIS_ODyDSxOX0YtA. A recording will be shared afterward with everyone who registers but is unable to attend.
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Of course, there was no question that October was the warmest October on record for global average sea surface temperature. The warmth across the world's oceans has been a huge story this year. Data from NOAA ERSSTv6 at https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.noaa.ersst.v6.html
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A very curious polar bear at our tundra buggy - with https://polarbearsinternational.org/. They are still waiting around for any signs of the sea ice to reform in the Hudson Bay (Canada).
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Have a great weekend! Here's your Friday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the 5th lowest on record (JAXA data)... • about 460,000 km² below the 2010s mean • about 1,240,000 km² below the 2000s mean • about 1,860,000 km² below the 1990s mean • about 2,140,000 km² below the 1980s mean More graphics: https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-figures/
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🚨 Last month was the hottest October on record for our planet. This was about 1.75°C warmer than a pre-industrial (1850-1900) average (wow!). The last 12 months have been about 1.51°C above that same baseline. Summary from @CopernicusECMWF@masto.ai at https://climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-temperature-october-2026
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There's a large range of variability in the location of regional hotspots of warming over the last 50 years in November. This is not surprising and is related to trends in the large-scale atmospheric circulation and different land-atmosphere interactions. Data from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-based-station/noaa-global-temp
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There's a heck of a lot of heat around the world's oceans over the last three months. Some of this is clearly associated with El Niño, but there's also notable other marine heat waves (and climate change). This can be tied as a source to areas of record-breaking precipitation. Data from OISSTv2.1.
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Wednesday El Niño update - Record warm conditions continue around Niño region 3.4 for both metrics of the Relative Oceanic Niño Index (RONI) and Oceanic Niño Index (ONI). I extended the scale of the map to now ±5°C (above 1991-2020). Data from NOAA OISSTv2.1: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/optimum-interpolation-sst
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My consistent answer to the easiest and most effective climate change solution: "voting" Stay informed, and get involved in your community. Your voice matters.
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It's Polar Bear Week! I spent an incredible week in Churchill visiting Polar Bears International and seeing firsthand how climate change is affecting this part of the Arctic. Give them a follow and learn about upcoming events: https://polarbearsinternational.org/news-media/events/polar-bear-week/
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Welcome to November! 🍁 Here's a look at how temperatures have changed during this month around our planet. Check out the largest warming over the Arctic region, which is due to multiple positive feedbacks in the climate system. Data from @CopernicusECMWF@masto.ai ERA5 reanalysis.
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And I am afraid it gets even more horrifying - Happy Halloween! 🎃👻
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Now here is something scary... 👻 And some more spooky climate trends for today: https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/october-nights-warming-us-cities #HappyHalloween! 🎃
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I hope you all don't mind polar bear pictures from my trip that I'll be randomly sharing over the next few weeks 🤭 Here's one from yesterday in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. Some of the surrounding ponds and wetlands are beginning to form ice, and we receiving a dusting of snow overnight.
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My first hour on the tundra has some curious visitors… 🥶
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I'm headed up to the tundra next week to observe the annual polar bear migration along the Hudson Bay in Canada and do science communication and educational outreach on the effects of our rapidly warming Arctic. We'll also be livestreaming from their tundra buggy! Follow along with our trip at: https://polarbearsinternational.org/news-media/events/the-importance-of-storytelling/
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Last month observed the largest relative warming signal in the Arctic, which is not surprising for this time of year as the sea ice reforms. The tropical (El Niño) signal is really remarkable though. [Plot shows zonal-mean temperature anomalies, where latitude = y-axis (not scaled by distance).]
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Saturday El Niño update - Sea surface temperatures are still warming across Niño region 3.4 over the last week. Note that I finally had to readjust the scale on the map view, so it's not quite comparable to prior updates. Data from NOAA OISSTv2.1: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/optimum-interpolation-sst
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Trends in October #Arctic sea ice thickness over approximately the last four decades (through 2025)... 🟦 - increasing ice thickness 🟥 - thinning ice Simulated data from PIOMAS. For more information: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0436.1
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El Niño is everywhere in the headlines, but ultimately human-caused climate change is the key reason for the record global warmth. 📈 Curious about how these two climate stories relate? Learn more in our latest report: https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/el-nino-global-temperatures-explained
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Last month was the 2nd hottest September on record for our planet. The last couple of years have been exceptionally warm considering the historical record. 📈 This data is using NOAAGlobalTempv6.1.0: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-based-station/noaa-global-temp
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Patterns of October temperatures in the #Antarctic when averaged by decade... Data from @CopernicusECMWF@masto.ai ERA5 reanalysis.
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Much of the perimeter of the #Arctic Ocean is getting wetter during the month of October. This is largest over the Barents-Kara Seas region, along with the eastern coast of Greenland. + Data: https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.gpcp.html + More info: https://doi.org/10.25923/11nn-hn03
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We're excited to share our new climate change indicators tool, featuring interactive, regularly updated data visualizations and access to the underlying data! We're hoping to expand this feature over time, so let us know what other indicators you'd like to see! ➡️ Global Indicators (English and Spanish): https://www.climatecentral.org/tools/climate-indicators ▶️ Local climate: https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-local
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Watch the changes in 100 years of average January-September temperature anomalies over land areas through 2026... Data from NOAAGlobalTemp v6.1.0: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-based-station/noaa-global-temp
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#Arctic climate rankings are now in for September 2026: https://zacklabe.com/archive-2026/. It was unusually warm again. No updates on PIOMAS sea-ice volume and thickness. #SciComm #DataViz #OpenScience #OpenData
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Evolution of September #Arctic sea ice and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies during the satellite-era... A summary of last month can be found from the NSIDC at https://nsidc.org/sea-ice-today/analyses/stranger-things-2026-arctic *SST data set (OISSTv2.1) is only available since about 1982