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Zack Labe
@zacklabe.com
41K followers 1K following 3.8K posts
Climate Scientist at @climatecentral.org | PhD | Passionate about improving science communication through data-driven stories | Harrisburg, PA | https://zacklabe.com/

Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are only my own.
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Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · Nov 30
🧵 Looking for (polar) climate data visualizations? Start here! 📈📉🧪⚒️🌊

+ Polar climate change: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
+ Global climate change indicators: zacklabe.com/climate-chan...
+ #Arctic sea ice extent: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
+ #Antarctic sea ice: zacklabe.com/antarctic-se...
zacklabe.com
Impossible to ignore what’s happening to #Arctic temperatures in the month of November...

Data from @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5 reanalysis.
Four polar stereographic maps showing Arctic near-surface air temperature anomalies for the month of November in 1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2014, and 2015-2024. Most all areas are observing long-term warming, which is largest along the Eurasian coast.
November 11, 2025 at 12:10 AM
zacklabe.com
Here is a map view of the record high temperatures in October 2025 across the #Antarctic. Compare this blob of anomalies greater than 5°C with the Arctic from my earlier post. Yikes!

Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds... using a 1981-2010 reference period.
Polar stereographic map of 2-m air temperature anomalies in the Antarctic for October 2025. Red shading is shown for warmer anomalies, and blue shading is shown for colder anomalies. There is a sharp gradient in temperature anomalies across the continent. Anomalies are calculated relative to a 1981-2010 baseline.
November 10, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Zack Labe
climatecentral.org
Who from Climate Central is on Bluesky? We have a starter pack for that! ⬇️
November 7, 2025 at 9:30 PM
zacklabe.com
📣 We just released a new free resource at @climatecentral.org - a 72-slide deck introducing key facts about climate change, including its causes, impacts, and solutions. It also comes with speaker notes and links for local storytelling.

➡️ www.climatecentral.org/climate-matt... (English & Spanish)
Screenshot of at least 20 slides on Climate Change: Key facts from Climate Central.
November 10, 2025 at 12:52 PM
zacklabe.com
Record high ocean temperatures continued across the North Pacific in October 2025, with recent warming really amplifying since the early 2000s.

This graph shows the average for a band across the midlatitudes for every October from 1854-2025 using
NOAA ERSSTv5 data (psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded...).
Green line graph time series of average sea surface temperature anomalies for each October from 1850 through 2025 for only the midlatitude region of the North Pacific Ocean. There is large interannual variability, but an overall long-term increasing trend. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1981-2010 baseline. 2025 is a record high.
November 9, 2025 at 5:43 PM
zacklabe.com
Here's a look at the extent of the "warmth" across the #Arctic in October. This map uses my normal anomaly scaling for each month, but it clearly doesn't work for something this extreme.

Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds...
Polar stereographic map showing 2-m air temperature anomalies in October 2025 for the Arctic Circle with red shading for warmer anomalies and blue shading for colder anomalies. Most areas are warmer than average. The baseline is a 1981-2010 reference period using ERA5 data.
November 9, 2025 at 2:04 PM
zacklabe.com
October 2025 was the 3rd warmest October on record for our planet, following 2023 (1st place) and 2024 (2nd place). This month was about 1.55°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average. The last 12-months have been about 1.50°C above it.

Summary of month: climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-... 🛠️🧪🌊
Orthographic map showing 2-m air temperature anomalies in October 2025 relative to a 1981-2010 baseline. This visualization shows North and South America. Most areas are warmer than average. Orthographic map showing 2-m air temperature anomalies in October 2025 relative to a 1981-2010 baseline using ERA5 data. This visualization shows Africa, Europe, and western Asia. Most areas are warmer than average. Orthographic map showing 2-m air temperature anomalies in October 2025 relative to a 1981-2010 baseline using ERA5 data. This visualization shows Australia, Antarctica, and Asia. Most areas are warmer than average, except for small parts of Australia and Antarctica.
November 8, 2025 at 10:31 PM
zacklabe.com
It's not every day that both poles set new monthly temperature records (see my earlier post). Last month also observed the warmest October on record for the #Arctic Circle. Not great!!

Data provided by doi.org/10.24381/cds....
Line graph time series of 2-m air temperature anomalies for the Arctic in every October from 1979 to 2025. There is a long-term warming trend, and 2025 is the warmest on record in this time series. Data is from ERA5 with a 1981-2010 climate baseline used for calculating the anomalies.
November 8, 2025 at 2:07 PM
zacklabe.com
The @wmo-global.bsky.social provisional report on the State of the Global Climate in 2025 was released: wmo.int/publication-...

"Other climate indicators continue to sound alarm
bells, and more extreme weather had major global impacts on
economies and all aspects of sustainable development." #COP30
Line graph time series showing global mean surface temperatures for January-August from 1850 to 2025 for a variety of different datasets. There is a long-term warming trend. Graphic produced by the WMO.
November 7, 2025 at 8:13 PM
zacklabe.com
🚨 Last month observed the highest average temperature for the month of October across the #Antarctic Circle, with clearly 2025 well above any prior year in the satellite era.

Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds...
Line graph time series of 2-m air temperature anomalies for the Antarctic in every October from 1979 to 2025. There is a long-term warming trend, and 2025 is the warmest on record in this time series. Data is from ERA5 with a 1981-2010 climate baseline used for calculating the anomalies.
November 7, 2025 at 5:40 PM
zacklabe.com
Friday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the 3rd lowest on record (JAXA data)

• about 740,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,500,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 2,120,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,400,000 km² below the 1980s mean

More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. The decadal averages are shown with different colored lines with purple for the 1980s, blue for the 1990s, green for the 2000s, and white for the 2010s. Thin white lines are also shown for each year from 2000 to 2024. 2025 is shown with a thick gold line. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent for every day of the year shown on this graph between September and December by looking at the decadal average line positions.
November 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM
zacklabe.com
Patterns of November temperatures in the #Antarctic when averaged by decade... There is a warming trend.

Data from @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5 reanalysis.
Four polar stereographic maps showing Antarctic near-surface air temperature anomalies for the month of November in 1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2014, and 2015-2024. There is substantial regional variability.
November 7, 2025 at 12:28 PM
zacklabe.com
Not every month will set a new record, but the warming trend is obvious. This graphic shows #Arctic air temperature rank by month over the satellite era - now updated through October 2025... 🧪

+ Ranks: 1=warmest (red), 46/47=coldest (blue)
+ Download higher resolution: zacklabe.com/arctic-tempe...
Heat map-style graphic showing monthly air temperature rankings in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level for each month from January 1979 to October 2025. There is a long-term warming trend evident in each month. Blue shading is shown for colder months, and red shading is shown for warmer months. A yellow number is shown for each grid box to display the actual temperature ranking. October 2025 was the 4th warmest October on record.
November 6, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Zack Labe
climatecentral.org
🌎 Share the facts on climate change with a new slide deck from Climate Central, available in English and Spanish. 🌎 www.climatecentral.org/climate-matt...
November 5, 2025 at 5:43 PM
zacklabe.com
Reconstructing October #Arctic sea ice extent since 1850...

Data from @nsidc.bsky.social at doi.org/10.7265/jj4s...
Line graph time series of October Arctic sea ice extent for every year from 1850 through 2025. Two datasets are compared in this time series. The Walsh et al. 2019 reconstruction is shown with a solid blue line. The NSIDC Sea Ice Index v3 is shown with a dashed red line only for the satellite era. There is large interannual variability and a long-term decreasing trend over the last few decades.
November 6, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Zack Labe
climatecentral.org
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November 4, 2025 at 4:03 PM
zacklabe.com
Trends in November temperatures over land areas (where we live) for the last 50 years... 🔥

Data from NOAAGlobalTempv6.0.0. (www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...)
Global map showing surface air temperature trends for each November period from 1975 to 2024. Only land areas are shown. Red shading is shown for warmer temperature trends, and blue shading is shown for colder temperature trends. Data is from NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI NOAAGlobalTempv6.0.0. The temperature trend scale is from -0.5°C/decade to +0.5°C/decade. Most areas are warming, though there is some spatial variability.
November 6, 2025 at 1:37 AM
zacklabe.com
October 2025 #Arctic sea ice extent was the 8th lowest on record for the month...

This was 2,030,000 km² below the 1981-2010 average. October ice extent is decreasing at about 9.39% per decade. Data @nsidc.bsky.social: nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
November 5, 2025 at 12:46 PM
zacklabe.com
Last month was the 3rd lowest #Antarctic sea ice extent on record for the month of October.

This was 1,140,000 km² below the 1981-2010 October average. Data from the @nsidc.bsky.social: nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
November 4, 2025 at 12:10 AM
zacklabe.com
"But perhaps the most consequential long-term loss for federal science is that of institutional knowledge and expertise — and the downstream effects on the training of early-career researchers."

"We lost people with decades of experience and everyone who was very early career, ...”
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...
www.nature.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:59 PM
zacklabe.com
Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the 3rd lowest on record (JAXA data)

• about 710,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,580,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 2,250,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,490,000 km² below the 1980s mean

More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. The decadal averages are shown with different colored lines with purple for the 1980s, blue for the 1990s, green for the 2000s, and white for the 2010s. Thin white lines are also shown for each year from 2000 to 2024. 2025 is shown with a thick gold line. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent for every day of the year shown on this graph between September and December by looking at the decadal average line positions.
November 3, 2025 at 1:47 PM
zacklabe.com
Simulated reconstruction of November #Arctic sea ice thickness since 1901. Watch for the last 10 years or so...

Information about this data set is available at psc.apl.uw.edu/research/pro.... Note that it is only updated through 2010 due to ERA-20C forcing.
November 3, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by Zack Labe
alaskawx.bsky.social
Not what people ANYWHERE on the Pacific coast need. #akwx #AlaskaSky

"The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is halting a contract that makes it possible for the federal agency to…monitor for potential tsunamis…and quickly warn at-risk communities."

alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-...
NOAA cancels funding for data collection crucial to tsunami warning systems
The Alaska Earthquake Center has long provided NOAA with seismic data for tsunami monitoring and warning purposes. That work will wind down in November, after the federal agency said it can no longer ...
alaskapublic.org
November 2, 2025 at 6:39 PM
zacklabe.com
100 years of changing November sea ice...

Total data set available from 1850 through 2017. Summary of methods: www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-p.... More sea ice reconstructions at zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i....
November 2, 2025 at 12:57 PM
zacklabe.com
Saturday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the 4th lowest on record (JAXA data)

• about 520,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,440,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 2,170,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,410,000 km² below the 1980s mean

More zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. The decadal averages are shown with different colored lines with purple for the 1980s, blue for the 1990s, green for the 2000s, and white for the 2010s. Thin white lines are also shown for each year from 2000 to 2024. 2025 is shown with a thick gold line. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent for every day of the year shown on this graph between September and October by looking at the decadal average line positions.
November 1, 2025 at 11:56 PM