Climate change affects Greenland

Nuuk, August 20 (RHC)-- In climate news, rain fell instead of snow on Greenland’s summit — which is nearly two miles above sea level — for the first time on record. The rain came down Saturday as temperatures rose to above freezing for the third time in a decade, during another major melt event.

This comes as wildfires continue to rage around the world. Scientists say blazes in Siberia have produced 800 megatons of carbon dioxide since early June, nearly double a record set just last year. The fires have released as much carbon as Germany emits in an entire year. In California, 11,000 firefighters continue to battle more than a dozen active fires, including the Dixie Fire, the largest single wildfire in the state’s history, which remains just one-third contained.

Meanwhile, government researchers say the historic drought covering much of the western U.S. is likely to last into the fall, if not longer. A new study this week found the number of deaths caused by extreme temperatures increased exponentially as the climate disaster has gotten worse. Between 1980 and 2016, deaths related to heat rose by 74%, while deaths caused by extreme cold increased by 31% since 1990.