| | Extreme Temperature Diary- Thursday October 31st, 2025/Main Topic: 22 of Earth’s 34 ‘Vital Signs’ Are Flashing Red, New Report Reveals — But There’s Still Time to Act – Guy On Climate
Main Topic: 22 of Earth’s 34 ‘Vital Signs’ Are Flashing Red, New Report Reveals — But There’s Still Time to Act
Dear Diary. Another article under my ‘How Fast How Bad’ category has been written this week. This Live Science piece focuses in different aspects of tipping points that are in precarious shape because of Earth’s current fever level of about +1.3°C above preindustrial conditions due to our long-term carbon emissions.
The article also suggests that it is not too late to reverse this tipping point damage, which is true, but looking at human behavior over the past few decades, this Climate Guy has serious doubts that we as a species will reverse course:
"22 of Earth's 34 'vital signs' are flashing red, new climate report reveals — but there's still time to act" | Nice article on our new #Bioscience article by @saschapare.bsky.social for @livescience.com: www.livescience.com/planet-earth... — Michael E. Mann (@michaelemann.bsky.social) 2025-10-29T14:38:57.929Z
(For great graphics that I did not repost, hit the following link.) 22 of Earth’s 34 ‘vital signs’ are flashing red, new climate report reveals — but there’s still time to act | Live Science
22 of Earth’s 34 ‘vital signs’ are flashing red, new climate report reveals — but there’s still time to act News
By Sascha Pare published 10/29/2025
Earth’s systems are nearing tipping points that could plunge the planet into a “hothouse” regime — but there’s still time to prevent that from happening, scientists say. One of the “vital signs” researchers measured was global tree cover loss due to fires, which reached a record high in 2024. (Image credit: Artur Debat/Getty Images)
Without deep cuts to emissions, there’s a chance Earth could embark on a dangerous “hothouse trajectory” to complete climate chaos. That’s one takeaway from a new report that found 22 of Earth’s 34 “vital signs” are flashing red, signaling that the planet is in distress.
Earth’s vital signs are markers of planetary health, such as atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane concentrations, ocean heat content, sea level fluctuations, and the yearly percentage of extremely hot days relative to the 1961-to-1990 average. Most of these markers hit record levels in 2024, and 2025 looks like it’s on the same trajectory, according to the report, published today (Oct. 29) in the journal BioScience.
“This report is both a warning and a call to action,” co-lead author William Ripple, a distinguished professor of ecology at Oregon State University, told Live Science in an email. “ 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded in modern times, and likely the warmest in at least 125,000 years. Ocean heat and ice loss hit record highs. Global surface temperatures exceeded 1.5 C [2.7 degrees Fahrenheit] above pre-industrial levels for the first time over a 12-month period. We also saw record wildfire activity and the most widespread coral bleaching event in recent history.”
Ripple and his colleagues first laid out the framework to measure Earth’s vital signs in 2020. Five years on, the researchers warn that we could cross a series of tipping points and push the planet into a self-sustaining hothouse regime — a state where Earth continues to heat up massively even after carbon emissions drop significantly.
Earth is now 2.2 F (1.2 C) warmer than it was on average between 1850 and 1900, and if countries don’t enact any further climate policies (which is a scenario often described as the “cost of inaction”), the planet could reach up to 5.6 F (3.1 C) of warming above preindustrial levels by 2100. Such rapid change would mark a turning point in the Holocene, the stable period that Earth entered about 11,000 years ago after the last ice age, the scientists wrote in the report.
“Scholars argue that this period of relative climatic calm enabled the development of agriculture, permanent settlements, and the rise of human civilizations,” they wrote. “That stability is now giving way to a period of rapid and dangerous change.”
Soaring global temperatures considerably increase the risk of crossing climate tipping points, such as the collapse of polar ice sheets and the melting of carbon-rich permafrost. If these systems disintegrate, both the amount of solar energy that Earth bounces back to space and the quantity of carbon it can store plummet, thus locking in further warming and causing additional systems to collapse.
“Crossing one tipping point could set off a cascade of other tipping point crossings with the majority of interactions being destabilizing,” Ripple and his colleagues wrote. “In the worst case, this could push the climate system onto a hothouse Earth trajectory. This trajectory would lead to a fundamentally different planet with devastating impacts on natural systems and humanity.”
The hothouse pathway is one of the four most urgent climate risks that the researchers identified in the report. The other three are biodiversity loss; freshwater declines; and a downturn in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a system of ocean currents that brings heat to the Northern Hemisphere.
But, of course, these aren’t the only effects of climate change. “There are [all] sorts of consequences of warming, including ice sheet collapse, coastal inundation, the increases in extreme weather,” report co-author Michael Mann, a presidential distinguished professor and the director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media, told Live Science in an email.
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   Global warming is proportional to the amount of carbon we pump into the atmosphere. Therefore, to stave off the worst consequences of climate change, “the focus should be on rapid decarbonization so we stabilize warming below dangerous levels,” Mann said.
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“Every year of delay locks in higher risks and costs,” Ripple added. “We can limit the damage if we act like this is the emergency it truly is.”
There is still time to act, because we haven’t yet reached levels of warming where the consequences are unmanageable. And there are reasons to be hopeful. “Some nations have successfully ended coal use and cut methane leaks,” Ripple said. (The U.K., Ireland, Switzerland, Norway and several other European countries no longer have coal in their electricity mix. The European Union and Nigeria have also made tangible progress in cutting methane emissions.)
“ Deforestation rates in the Amazon have dropped sharply under new leadership, renewable energy capacity keeps setting records, and electric-vehicle sales are climbing,” Ripple added.
 Sascha Pare
Staff writer
Sascha is a U.K.-based staff writer at Live Science. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southampton in England and a master’s degree in science communication from Imperial College London. Her work has appeared in The Guardian and the health website Zoe. Besides writing, she enjoys playing tennis, bread-making and browsing second-hand shops for hidden gems.
Here are more “ET’s” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
OCTOBER 2025 WORLDWIDE EXTREME TEMPERATURES
Northern Hemisphere Highest:46.7C Shabankareh (Iran) 1 October
NH Lowest:-50.0C Summit (Greenland) 29 October
Southern Hemisphere Highest:46.1C Birdsville (Australia) 21 October
SH Lowest:-67.6C Dome Fuji (Antarctica) 12 October — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T10:48:20.055Z
#Melissa is now downgraded to post-tropical cyclone ,after passing near Bermuda,it will pass close to Newfoundland most eastward tip.
Bermuda had an exceptionally warm and humid night with a Minimum of 24.7C.
Note that it had never a Min >25C in November.
Kudos map:Zoom Earth — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T18:57:58.906Z
Northern Hemisphere has been with widespread record heat in all Continents
Tomorrow will be the world's most record breaking day with November records smashed in dozens of thousands of stations
MINIMUM temperatures are still crazyy high
Today Abu Musa Island,IRAN Min was 29.4C ! — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T07:52:21.552Z
Another record day in AUSTRALIA
concludes an incredible October with 31 days of relentless record heat with hundreds of records smashed every day.
October Highest Minimums set today (preliminary data)
courtesy of Australian Weather News — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T02:05:38.198Z
EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN SE ASIA
INDONESIA: Pontianak broke again its October record of highest Minimum: 25.8C
Insane hot night in SINGAPORE
2 stations failed to drop below 29.0C tonight !
East Coast Parkway and Semakau Island
Never happened so late before. — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T01:59:36.484Z
EXCEPTIONAL HEAT IN SOUTH ASIA
From Middle East to Japan,all Asian countries are with record heat.
In particular,Bangladesh and Myanmar are smashing recordS every day.
Today's October records in MYANMAR:
37.5 Taungoo
36.6 Zaung Tu
Tomorrow swathes of November records will fall — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T16:02:23.899Z
JUAN DE NOVA AGAIN !
Hottest October night in history broken again for the French Southern Territories with a minimum of 27.6C today at Juan de Nova Island,which keeps breaking and rebreaking records no-stop since early 2023, every month 5/10 times every month! — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T14:42:10.131Z
ICYMI: Staggering rainfall in Vietnam in the past week. Bach Ma mountain near Hue City recorded a one-day rainfall of 1,740 mm (68.50 in). This is unofficially the second highest 24-hour rainfall ever recorded globally.
Record: 1,825 mm / 71.85 in La Réunion; January 7-8, 1966
(1/2) — Steve Bowen (@stevebowen.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T18:04:08.923Z
"We live on a planet on the brink of disaster -- This year’s State of the Climate Report warns of imminent climate chaos" by @brianmchugh.bsky.social for @yorkshirebylines.co.uk:
yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/environ... — Michael E. Mann (@michaelemann.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T14:23:53.265Z
"You can’t reboot the planet if you crash it" | My commentary on Bill Gates' flawed new climate missive for @thebulletin.org: thebulletin.org/2025/10/you-... — Michael E. Mann (@michaelemann.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T18:35:48.584Z
Just like Elon Musk could have relied on renewables to power his xAI datacenter in Memphis, TN, but instead used jet-engine-powered generators to supplement the grid. In both cases, profit is the true motive, environment be damned.
www.cnbc.com/2025/04/10/e... — Tom Shafer (@tomshafshafer.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T18:52:30.563Z
a lot of people are asking me, "What do they have on Gates?" — Michael E. Mann (@michaelemann.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T17:09:25.342Z
Trouble ahead: “Nevada is home to the fastest rate of Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) development in the country—over the last 30 years, the number of homes in the WUI more than tripled. The state has also seen nearly 20% of its land area burn over the last 40 years.” — Dr. Jeff Masters (@drjeffmasters.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T14:11:05.254Z
📈 Sea surface temperature for 21 Oct. 2025 – @michaelemann.bsky.social /C3S Climate Pulse app
2️⃣https://bsky.app/profile/michaelemann.bsky.social/post/3m3wu633y5c2x
Explore the C3S Climate Pulse: pulse.climate.copernicus.eu — Copernicus ECMWF (@copernicusecmwf.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T14:11:12.272Z
Environmental heat stress has significantly increased in India, driving a ~10% decline in labor capacity, with much worse projected under future warming.
This highlights the urgent need for targeted adaptation strategies + climate mitigation to protect the vulnerable.
New from @science.nature.org: — Katharine Hayhoe (@katharinehayhoe.com) 2025-10-31T18:11:38.365Z
If you're still listening to anything Roger Pielke Jr. has to say about climate change, you really need to read this: — Michael E. Mann (@michaelemann.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T14:10:25.444Z
NEWS: CBS News gutted its climate team as part of the big Paramount layoffs this week. These journalists had been doing incredible reporting on extreme heat, flooding, clean energy investments and more.
I've got details for Climate-Colored Goggles: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/cbs-news-g... — Sammy Roth (@sammyroth.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T00:55:10.972Z
Yeah. It’s Climate Change. In the last 45 years the most extreme Atlantic hurricanes have nearly doubled and extreme rapid intensification has increased by 6X!! #climatechange #melissa #hurricane #fyp #florida — Jeff Berardelli (@weatherprof.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T01:18:17.956Z
Episodes of Atlantic Extreme Rapid Intensification - A 6X increase over the same since 1980 via @BhatiaKieran
Things are certainly changing as the waters warm. Greater ratio of strongest storms, that rapidly intensify, BUT importantly not necessarily a higher number of tropical systems overall. — Jeff Berardelli (@weatherprof.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T16:43:21.853Z
It's not often you get to tell a positive story about climate. But that’s what our new #10YearsPostParis report and #infographic let us do:
eciu.net/analysis/inf...
The lesson of the last decade? Policy and cooperation matter. Naysayers don't.
@daisydunne.carbonbrief.org @katharinehayhoe.com — John Lang (@johnlang.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T09:45:02.013Z
The final act of the Hurricane #Melissa 10-day rampage will be tonight in southeastern Newfoundland, bringing an end to the historic hurricane's impacts.
yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/10/hurr... — Dr. Jeff Masters (@drjeffmasters.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T17:12:42.042Z
From the Aon October 31, 2025 Review of Global Catastrophe Activity comes this rainfall image for Melissa: — Dr. Jeff Masters (@drjeffmasters.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T16:15:41.836Z
"Category 6 is the new hurricane normal. Why scientists say we need to rethink what we know about storms" by @juliaelenamusto.bsky.social for @the-independent.com: www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan... — Michael E. Mann (@michaelemann.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T14:04:22.278Z
More than 120,000 homes already flooded in central Vietnam as the Bo River (in Hue) and the Thu Bon River (in Da Nang) have exceeded historical flood levels.
Heavy rains expected thru November 4.
FYI: Sept/Oct flood events had already caused >USD1.4bn in damage.
dmc.gov.vn/bai-viet/mie...
(2/2) — Steve Bowen (@stevebowen.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T18:04:08.924Z
Now that #Melissa is behind us as a tropical system, we need to have an honest conversation about how the federal weather enterprise is still running because of volunteers & unpaid employees, and how this "shutdown" is not really a shutdown.
https://tinyurl.com/2wk36686 — Alan Gerard (@wxmanms1.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T18:10:52.755938Z
Here comes the sun.
#solar #renewables #climate oilprice.com/Alternative-... — Dr Paul Dorfman (@drpauldorfman.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T08:22:31.995Z
Busting the Myth that Clean #Renewables Increase Electricity Prices.
#climate
www.youtube.com/watch?v=deyg... — Dr Paul Dorfman (@drpauldorfman.bsky.social) 2025-10-31T08:20:46.835Z
For 61 years the #BBCWorldService has been broadcasting the latest in science via its weekly Science in Action programme. That dies in the next half hour, with this final edition, reflecting on the fall in trust in expertise driven by malign interests over recent years. — Roland Pease (@peaseroland.bsky.social) 2025-10-30T20:20:03.331Z
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