CO₂ milestone
MILESTONE427.9ppm
2.05 ppm below the 430 mark
Rising ~1.6 ppm/yr · higher than at any point in the 800,000-year ice-core record.
ATMOSPHERE · 2026-09-18
OCEAN · El Niño & global sea level
OCEAN El Niño 3.4 — sea-surface temperature NOAA CPC · 2026-09-09 · 11d
EL NIÑO — the tropical Pacific is running warmer than usual · ONI +1.80 °C · 3 consecutive seasons ≥ +0.5 · latest week +2.9 °C (SST 29.6 °C)
LOADING SERIES…
WEEKLY ANOMALY ONI 3-MO MEAN EL NIÑO EPISODE LA NIÑA EPISODE
SOURCE: NOAA CPC ↗ weekly · anomalies vs 1991–2020 · weekly 1981→ · ONI 1950→
OCEAN Sea level — global mean (satellite altimetry) Univ. of Colorado Sea Level Group · 2026-06-27 · 85d
+113 mm since 1993 +3.9 mm/yr last decade · 1993–2002 was +2.8 — the rise is accelerating
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60-DAY SMOOTH SATELLITE CYCLES
SOURCE: Univ. of Colorado Sea Level Group ↗ ~10-day satellite cycles · CU altimetry 1993→ · seasonal signals removed · GIA-corrected · releases trail today by ~2–3 months
OCEAN · Sea surface temperature — global & Niño 3.4
OCEAN Sea surface temperature — global 60°S–60°N Climate Reanalyzer · NOAA OISST v2.1 · — · no data
AWAITING FIRST READING…
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1981–2010 ±2σ ALL YEARS 1981→ — HOVER TO NAME ONE
SOURCE: Climate Reanalyzer · NOAA OISST v2.1 ↗ daily · OISST v2.1 1981→ · band = 1981–2010 mean ±2σ (computed from the daily record) · via residential relay
OCEAN Sea surface temperature — Niño 3.4 daily Climate Reanalyzer · NOAA OISST v2.1 · — · no data
AWAITING FIRST READING…
LOADING SERIES…
1981–2010 ±2σ ALL YEARS 1981→ — HOVER TO NAME ONE
SOURCE: Climate Reanalyzer · NOAA OISST v2.1 ↗ daily · OISST v2.1 1981→ · band = 1981–2010 mean ±2σ (computed from the daily record) · via residential relay
OCEAN · Coral bleaching — reef heat stress
OCEAN Coral bleaching — reef heat stress NOAA Coral Reef Watch · 2026-09-17 · 3d
111 of 214 reef stations under bleaching heat stress ▲ 39 ALERT LVL 2 ◆ 10 LVL 1 · 16 warning · 46 watch · worst DHW 26.5 °C-wks — Northern Line Islands · 2026-09-17
LOADING STATIONS…
ALERT LVL 2ALERT LVL 1WARNINGWATCH NO STRESS DHW = °C-weeks of accumulated heat stress
SOURCE: NOAA Coral Reef Watch ↗ daily 5 km satellite SST · 214 virtual reef stations · 5.8 MB source reduced server-side to ~24 KB · product runs ~2 days behind
WATER · Colorado River reservoirs
COLORADO RIVER SYSTEM
Powell + Mead · one system ◆ MEAD: TIER 2 SHORTAGE RANGE23.7% of combined
capacity
capacity
050.4 MAF combined capacity
- POWELL 5.1 / 24.3 MAF
- MEAD 6.9 / 26.1 MAF
- SYSTEM 12.0 MAF stored
Combined live storage ÷ USBR active capacity. Shortage tiers are officially set by USBR from the projected Jan-1 Mead elevation; this shows where Mead's current 1,038.4 ft falls. · USBR · 2026-09-18
WATER Lake Mead — pool elevation USBR Lower Colorado · 2026-09-18 · 2d
1,038.38 ft -190.6 ft vs full pool · 143.4 ft above dead pool · below the Tier-2 line (1,050)
LOADING SERIES…
POOL ELEVATION OPERATING THRESHOLDS
SOURCE: USBR Lower Colorado ↗ monthly 1935→ · daily current month · shortage tiers per 2007 Guidelines/DCP
WATER Lake Powell — pool elevation USBR hydrodata (site 919) · 2026-09-18 · 2d
3,516.84 ft -183.2 ft vs full pool · 146.8 ft above dead pool · storage 5.09 MAF (20.9% of capacity) · 26.8 ft of hydropower head above min power pool
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POOL ELEVATION OPERATING THRESHOLDS
SOURCE: USBR hydrodata (site 919) ↗ daily 1963→ · capacity 24.32 MAF
DROUGHT · Drought — world & US
DROUGHT Drought — world events & US monitor US Drought Monitor · Copernicus GDO · 2026-09-15 · 5d
13 drought events tracked worldwide 8.31 M km² · 71 countries · 5 at orange or higher · US: 59.4% of the Lower 48 in drought (D1+) ▲ +0.8 pt vs last week · D3+ 13% extreme · D4 2.0% exceptional · week of 2026-09-15
LOADING WORLD DROUGHTS…
13 drought events in the current Copernicus GDO analysis period (through 2026-09-17) · 8.31 M km² of land · 13 of 13 with mapped footprints · GDACS also lists 27 drought events whose last analysis period has passed — they are not shown, mapped or counted here
AFFECTED AREA ORANGE+ ESCALATION DROUGHT EVENT a filled ◆ = GDACS ORANGE/RED · click any marker for details · footprints are model-derived (Copernicus GDO)
SOURCE: US Drought Monitor · Copernicus GDO ↗ US Drought Monitor released weekly (Thu), author-drawn, contiguous US — 19 MB source reduced server-side to ~45 KB · world events from Copernicus GDO via GDACS, re-analysed about every 10 days, model-derived rather than author-drawn · the two are never mixed into one number
FIRE · Wildfire — global hotspots & incidents
FIRE Wildfire — global hotspots & incidents NASA FIRMS · GDACS · NIFC WFIGS · 2026-09-19 · 1d
223,995 satellite hotspots · 24 h global · NOAA-20 + NOAA-21 ΣFRP 2,198 GW · world: 100 tracked fire events · 1,892,187 ha · 9 countries · US: 348 active incidents · 3,253,812 ac · 2026-09-19
LOADING HOTSPOTS…
< 20 MW20–100100–500500–2,500≥ 2,500 MW SATELLITE CLUSTER OFFICIAL EVENT (GDACS) NAMED US INCIDENT a filled ◆ = GDACS ORANGE/RED escalation cell colour = ΣFRP (fire radiative power) per 0.5° cell · click any marker for details
SOURCE: NASA FIRMS · GDACS · NIFC WFIGS ↗ VIIRS 375 m thermal anomalies from TWO satellites (NOAA-20 + NOAA-21, ~50 min apart on the same orbit) · rolling 24 h · ~21 MB reduced server-side to ~125 KB · detections are hotspots, not fire perimeters — gas flares and industrial heat detect too, and much of the African & Australian signal is agricultural or savanna burning rather than disaster
CRYOSPHERE · Sea ice — Arctic & Antarctic
CRYOSPHERE Sea ice extent — daily by day of year NSIDC Sea Ice Index v4 · — · no data
4.67 M km² Arctic · 2026-09-18 · -1.64 vs the 1981–2010 average (-26.0%)
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1981–2010 ±2σ ALL YEARS 1978→ — HOVER TO NAME ONE
SOURCE: NSIDC Sea Ice Index v4 ↗ daily · satellite record 1978→ · band = 1981–2010 mean ±2σ
ATMOSPHERE · CO₂ & global temperature
ATMOSPHERE CO₂ — global surface concentration NOAA GML · 2026-09-18 · 2d
427.95 ppm +1.65 ppm vs one year ago · pre-industrial ≈ 278 ppm
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TREND (DESEASONALIZED) SEASONAL (SMOOTHED)
SOURCE: NOAA GML ↗ daily global mean · GML record 2016→ · Mauna Loa era 1958→
ATMOSPHERE CH₄ — global methane concentration NOAA GML · 2026-05-15 · 128d
1,941.2 ppb +5.9 ppb vs one year ago · pre-industrial ≈ 722 ppb (≈ 2.7×)
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TREND (DESEASONALIZED) MONTHLY (SEASONAL)
SOURCE: NOAA GML ↗ monthly global mean · NOAA GML 1983→ · shorter-lived but far more potent than CO₂, molecule for molecule
ATMOSPHERE Global temperature — anomaly vs 1951–80 NASA GISS · 2026-08-15 · 36d
+1.40 °C 2026-08 · 12-mo mean +1.21 °C · vs 1951–80 baseline
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12-MO RUNNING MEAN MONTHLY
SOURCE: NASA GISS ↗ monthly · GISTEMP v4 land+ocean · record 1880→
EARTH SYSTEM · Climate tipping points
EARTH SYSTEM Tipping points — proximity to assessed thresholds Armstrong McKay et al. 2022, Science · 2026-08-15 · 36d
+1.51 °C CURRENT WARMING · vs pre-industrial ▲ 10 IN RANGE ◆ 3 NEARING · GISTEMP 12-mo mean +1.21 °C + 0.3 °C baseline adjustment
· a single-year figure, not the ~20-yr mean the Paris limits are judged on
▲ NOW +1.51°C
Cryosphere 9 elements Ice sheets, sea ice, mountain glaciers and frozen ground.
Ocean circulation 2 elements The Atlantic overturning and the deep convection that drives it.
Biosphere 5 elements Forests, coral reefs and monsoon systems.
0246810 °C
▲ IN RANGE Greenland Ice Sheet GLOBAL CORE
THRESHOLD 1.5 °C [0.8–3.0 °C] TIMESCALE ~10,000 yr once crossed STATE current warming has reached this element's low threshold estimate — the assessed window where tipping becomes possible, not a sign it has tipped
MECHANISM Surface melt lowers the ice surface into warmer air (the melt–elevation feedback), a self-reinforcing loss that eventually removes most of the sheet.
IF CROSSED Commits the world to ~7 m of sea-level rise over millennia and freshens the North Atlantic.
▲ IN RANGE (≥ low estimate) ◆ NEARING (≤ 0.5 °C below) ● BELOW RANGE CURRENT WARMING PARIS 1.5 / 2 °C bar = assessed range · notch = central estimate · select a row for detail
SOURCE: Armstrong McKay et al. 2022, Science ↗ 16 assessed elements · thresholds: Armstrong McKay et al. 2022 · warming vs pre-industrial (1850–1900)
EVENTS · Active hazards — live
EVENTS Event wall — happening now NHC · NWS · EONET · GDACS · USGS · — · no data
0/0 PLOTTED
HOVER, TAP, OR FOCUS AN EVENT — EVERY DOT IS A LIST ROW · DOUBLE-TAP THE MAP TO ZOOM
▲CRITICAL ◆WARNING ●WATCH ·INFO DOT ∝ QUAKE MAGNITUDE ◎N = CLUSTERED SWARM SHADE = NIGHT SIDE (COMPUTED) ↗ = SOURCE ANNOUNCEMENT
SOURCE: NHC · NWS · EONET · GDACS · USGS ↗ cadence 15–30 min per source · alerts filtered to Severe+Extreme · EONET top 50 of — open · ↗ opens the source announcement
NEWS · Climate newswire
NEWS News river — curated climate desk Guardian · Carbon Brief · Yale E360 · NASA EO · — · no data
AWAITING FIRST SWEEP…
SOURCE: Guardian · Carbon Brief · Yale E360 · NASA EO ↗ RSS · fetched 45–60 min · deduped by title · time is the only ranking
RECORDS · Records & milestones
CH₄ milestone
MILESTONE1,941ppb
59 ppb below the 2,000 mark
Rising ~5.9 ppb/yr · ≈2.7× pre-industrial (722 ppb) · ~80× CO₂'s warming punch over 20 years.
ATMOSPHERE · 2026-05-15
Global temperature
RECORD+1.48°C
Hottest month in the 146-year record (Sep 2023)
39 straight months ≥ +1.0 °C · warmest 12-mo mean +1.32 °C to Aug 2024 (vs 1951–80).
ATMOSPHERE · 2026-08-15
Arctic sea ice
BELOW AVG4.67M km²
81st-lowest for Sep 18 in 48 years
Extent for this date across the satellite record · 1.8 σ below the 1981–2010 average.
CRYOSPHERE · 2026-09-18
Sea level milestone
MILESTONE+113mm since 1993
7 mm below the +120 mark
Rising +3.9 mm/yr over the last decade — up from +2.8 in 1993–2002 · ocean heat + land-ice melt; the smoothed rise never gives back.
OCEAN · 2026-06-27
Lake Mead
RECORD LOW1,038.4ft
A new low since the reservoir filled
That low was the lowest since Lake Mead filled (late 1930s) · full pool 1,229 ft.
WATER · 2026-09-18
Lake Powell
NEAR-LOW3,516.8ft
0.2 ft above its Sep 2026 low
That low was the lowest since Lake Powell filled (1980) · full pool 3,700 ft.
WATER · 2026-09-18
Upper Colorado snowpack
RECORD LOW8.8in SWE
Lowest season peak in the 36-year record (prev WY2002, 10.9 in)
WY2026 peaked Mar 7 at 66% of median · Apr 1: 27% · melted out for the season.
WATER · 2026-09-18