Notes | Brutkey

Quick look at August sea surface temperature trends across the #Arctic, which are warming nearly everywhere that sea ice is not found. We'll have an update on this in our next Arctic Report Card, which will be released in December 2025.

Last year's summary: https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2024/sea-surface-temperature-2024/

Polar stereographic map of sea surface temperature trends for Augusts from 1979 to 2024. Red shading is shown for warming trends, and blue shading is shown for cooling trends. All areas of the ocean are observing warming.

Zack Labe
@ZLabe@fediscience.org

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) averaged about 428 ppm in July 2025

10 years ago July averaged about 401 ppm

Preliminary data from NOAA at https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/

Red line graph time series of monthly carbon dioxide abundance from January 1959 through July 2025. There is a seasonal cycle and long-term increasing trend. Current levels of CO2 are at 428 ppm. This is the Keeling Curve graph. A line for CO2 10 years ago is also annotated.

Zack Labe
@ZLabe@fediscience.org

Phoenix, Arizona set a new all-time August high temperature earlier this week, with a clear climate change connection as our Climate Shift Index (CSI) system reached level 5 across nearly the entire Southwest.

Find daily CSI information for your hometown at https://csi.climatecentral.org/climate-shift-index.

Map depicting a CSI value of 5 for Phoenix, Arizona, on August 7, 2025, with dark red tones showing strong climate change influence. Phoenix reached a new all-time high of 118°F. An icon of intense sunlight reinforces the severity of the event, with the Climate Shift Index panel emphasizing that such an extreme temperature would be at least 5 times more likely due to climate change.

Zack Labe
@ZLabe@fediscience.org

Have a good weekend! Here's your Friday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the 6th lowest on record (JAXA data)...

• about 140,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,000,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,900,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,610,000 km² below the 1980s mean

More plots: https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-extentconcentration/

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 June and September by looking at the decadal average line positions.

Zack Labe
@ZLabe@fediscience.org

My monthly #Arctic temperature graphics have just been updated through July 2025 (https://zacklabe.com/arctic-temperatures/). July is the warmest climatological month of the year across these northernmost areas.

#SciComm #DataViz #OpenScience #OpenData

Zack Labe
@ZLabe@fediscience.org

Three Degrees Podcast: Climate Trends, Data, and the Fight Against Disinformation... on global temperature extremes, Arctic warning signs, and the power of clear communication (https://threedegreespodcast.substack.com/p/three-degrees-climate-trends-data)

Zack Labe
@ZLabe@fediscience.org

Last month was the 3rd hottest July on record globally. It was somewhere around 1.25°C above 1850-1900 levels. There was significant variability in the pattern of anomalies across different regions.

Summary of the month at https://climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-temperature-july-2025 using @CopernicusECMWF@masto.ai data.

Orthographic map showing 2-m air temperature anomalies in July 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 July 2025 relative to a 1981-2010 baseline using ERA5 data. This visualization shows Africa, Europe, and western Asia. Most areas are warmer than average.

Zack Labe
@ZLabe@fediscience.org

It's time! Join me in tracking this year's #Arctic sea ice minimum!

Sea ice melt substantially slows every September as solar energy decreases and temperatures drop in the far north.

Follow along with the data at https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-extentconcentration/

Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. Scatter points are also shown for the previous annual minimum years from 2000 to 2024. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent. 2012 is current the all-time record low.

Zack Labe
@ZLabe@fediscience.org

The extraordinary loss of August #Arctic sea ice thickness over the last four decades...

Data available at https://psc.apl.uw.edu/research/projects/arctic-sea-ice-volume-anomaly/data/model_grid. More info at https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/pan-arctic-ice-ocean-modeling-and-assimilation-system-piomas

Four polar stereographic maps showing Arctic sea ice thickness during August in 1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2014, and 2015-2024. There is ice thinning in nearly all locations. Ice thickness ranges from 0 to 5 meters.

Zack Labe
@ZLabe@fediscience.org

Truly unbelievable stuff - we (NOAA ex-probationary staff) are STILL getting more insulting letters from Department of Commerce.

Please leave us alone! I am trying to move on! 😭