Page 124 - RusRPTOct23

The ocean is a hot tub. Buoys off the coast of Florida have been measuring water temperatures in the 90s F — creating an environment that’s supercharging hurricanes. Meanwhile, temperatures in the North Atlantic breached a new record of 25.19 C (77.3 F) on August 31. Even the Mediterranean Sea has seen unprecedented temperatures this year.
There’s trouble down south. Antarctic sea ice hit an all-time low in February and has struggled to grow back. This has had devastating consequences for emperor penguins, which failed to breed at a level never seen before in parts of Antarctica.
Three months of continuous daily record high temperatures on the Northern Hemisphere were recorded. The temperature anomaly (from the 1979-2000 mean) has never been this high this time of the year: +1.35°C. This is an aerosol termination shock for all to see as El Niño starts.
The Northern Hemisphere Surface Air Temperature Anomaly just keeps increasing. +1.43°C above the 1979-2000 mean on September 27.
“Is a temperature of +1.7°C possible in 2024? The first time daily and montly values passed +1.5°C was during the very strong El Niño in 2015-2016. What happens if the current El Niño is as strong?” asks Simons.
“Some simplified math: 1.2 (average past 5 years) + 0.1 (Solar maxima) + 0.2 (Super El Nino) +0.1 (warming trend) + 0.1 (additional warming from aerosol reductions). ~1.7°C in 2024 if we have a Super El Niño?” Simons adds.
But there is some debate over if we are due a super El Niño this year or not. In 1965 Niño 3.4 reached 2.0°C and 7 years later in 1972 it reached 2.1°C and then 2.2°C in 1982, ten years later. “8-9 years wouldn't be unusual,” says Simons.
9.1.11 Metallurgy & mining sector news
The discovery of new giant lithium deposit in a US volcano may not be all that its cracked up to be.
Massive finds of deposits in the mining industry, whether it's the massive Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea or diamond finds in Canada's Northwest Territories, seldom leads to rapid and transformative changes. In the case of lithium, this trend is expected to hold true, with a few unique characteristics setting it apart from other minerals.
Lithium, unlike cobalt and nickel, isn't geologically scarce when it comes to economically viable deposits. While there may be short-term supply bottlenecks as the mining sector adapts to surges in demand, long-term
124 RUSSIA Country Report October 2023 www.intellinews.com