🌍 Earth Hit Highest CO2 Level in Millions of Years

🛜 Major U.S. Climate Website Likely to be Shut Down

Climate.gov, a major U.S. government website dedicated to supporting public education on climate science, looks likely to be shut down after nearly all its staff were fired on May 31. The content on the website was created and maintained by a team of about 10 people, with additional contributions from NOAA scientists, but their government contracts have been terminated. The website and its related social media accounts will imminently no longer publish new content, aside from a few already-scheduled posts this month. Climate.gov receives hundreds of thousands of visits per month and is one of the most popular sources of information about climate science on the internet. Their related social media accounts that are followed by hundreds of thousands of people have been used to answer misinformation questions and provide communication and education on climate science.

Eric Holthaus, The Guardian

🌧️ May 2025 Climate Assessment

Spring 2025 was officially the second warmest spring on record. The month of May brought storms and heavy rain from the south to the northeast. Thirteen states experienced one of their five wettest Mays on record. Two significant severe weather outbreaks on May 15-16 and May 18-20 resulted in over 200 tornado reports, very large hail, and damaging winds. Alaska had its second-wettest May on record with exceptionally heavy rainfall in the southeast. Several sites across Hawaii observed their warmest spring ever. In late May, a heatwave in parts of California and Nevada set several daily temperature records, including 99F on May 31 at Reno-Tahoe Airport, the hottest May temperature since records began there in 1888.

National Centers for Environmental Information

🌍 Earth Hit Highest CO2 Level in Millions of Years

New data shows that CO2 levels exceeded 430 parts per million in May. The reading from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii represents an increase of more than 3 ppm over last year. Earth’s atmosphere currently has more carbon dioxide in it than it has in millions of years. The last time the planet had such high levels of CO2 was likely more than 30 million years ago. The measurements indicate that countries are not doing enough to limit greenhouse gas emissions and reverse the steady buildup of CO2, which climate scientists point to as the main culprit for global warming. Now, scientists warn that levels of CO2 could reach 500 ppm within 30 years.

Denise Chow and Chase Cain, NBC News