Backyard and Beyond

Wind-tussled Tufted Titmouse in a beech tree with a few old leaves hanging on.
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So last year was the fourth warmest year since 1850. It was slightly cooler than the top three warmest years since 1850… which were, in order, 2016, 2017, and 2015. This data is from BerkeleyEarth; NOAA and NASA haven’t been able to report because of Trump/GOP’s hijacking of the nation. “The slight decline in 2018 is likely to reflect short-term natural variability, but the overall pattern remains consistent with a long-term trend towards global warming.” And did you see how southern Australia broke the continent’s heat record this week: 115F.