I have reported in several previous posts about the effects of climate change on bottomland hardwood swamps of the southeastern U.S., including sea-level rise (SLR1, SLR2, SLR3), fire regimes, and storms.
Swamps, like this one along the Waccamaw River, S.C. are at risk from climate change--just like the rest of the plant.
The Sixth State of the Climate report was recently released, and it makes for scary reading. The first paragraph is:
We are hurtling toward climate chaos. The planet's vital signs are flashing red. The consequences of human-driven alterations of the climate are no longer future threats but are here now. This unfolding emergency stems from failed foresight, political inaction, unsustainable economic systems, and misinformation. Almost every corner of the biosphere is reeling from intensifying heat, storms, floods, droughts, or fires. The window to prevent the worst outcomes is rapidly closing. In early 2025, the World Meteorological Organization reported that 2024 was the hottest year on record (WMO 2025a). This was likely hotter than the peak of the last interglacial, roughly 125,000 years ago (Gulev et al. 2021, Kaufman and McKay 2022). Rising levels of greenhouse gases remain the driving force behind this escalation. These recent developments emphasize the extreme insufficiency of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mark the beginning of a grim new chapter for life on Earth.
The report, subtitled "A Planet on the Brink", is available here and a news article about it from the American Geophysical Union is titled "Our Planet's Vital Signs are Crashing."
Meanwhile, in MAGAworld and Trumpistan . . . .
