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Zack Labe
@zacklabe.com
42K followers 1K following 3.9K posts
Climate Scientist at @climatecentral.org | PhD | Passionate about improving science communication through data-driven stories | Harrisburg, PA | https://zacklabe.com/

Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are only my own.
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Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · Nov 30
🧵 Looking for (polar) climate data visualizations? Start here! 📈📉🧪⚒️🌊

+ Polar climate change: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
+ Global climate change indicators: zacklabe.com/climate-chan...
+ #Arctic sea ice extent: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
+ #Antarctic sea ice: zacklabe.com/antarctic-se...
Reposted by Zack Labe
climatecentral.org
Our new climate-focused webinar series launches later this month!

Join us for a discussion on the latest global and U.S. climate change data, plus what these trends mean for planning and expectations this winter.

🗓️Tuesday, December 16 | 12pm ET
🔗Register: buff.ly/HOGFZIP
December 3, 2025 at 9:11 PM
zacklabe.com
Last month was the 4th lowest #Antarctic sea ice extent on record for the month of November.

This was 1,320,000 km² below the 1981-2010 November average. Data from the @nsidc.bsky.social: nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
December 3, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Zack Labe
eco-nana.bsky.social
Why isn't warmer every year, even while we continue to emit greenhouse gases? A natural ocean cool-down (La Niña) is giving the planet a tiny breather. Curious how that works — and why this year might not snag the “hottest ever” title?
Why This Year Won’t Be the Warmest On Record
Scientists predict that 2025 will be the second or third warmest year on record. We’re emitting more CO2 every year, so why won’t this year be warmer than last year? Even though Earth is warming over ...
eco-nana.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:46 PM
zacklabe.com
November 2025 #Arctic sea ice extent was the 2nd lowest on record for the month...

This was 1,930,000 km² below the 1981-2010 average. November ice extent is decreasing at about 4.85% per decade. Data: @nsidc.bsky.social at nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
December 2, 2025 at 4:25 PM
zacklabe.com
The decline of thicker #Arctic sea ice by decade in the month of December... this has wide-ranging impacts.

More info on this data: climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data...
Four polar stereographic maps showing Arctic sea ice thickness during December in 1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2014, and 2015-2024. There is ice thinning in nearly all locations. Ice thickness ranges from 0 to 5 meters.
December 2, 2025 at 11:37 AM
zacklabe.com
Welcome to the start of meteorological winter! Check out how December temperatures have warmed around our planet over the last four decades...

Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds...
Four global maps showing near-surface air temperature anomalies for the month of December in 1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2014, and 2015-2024. Most all areas are observing long-term warming, which is largest over the Arctic region. Anomalies are calculated relative to 1951-1980 from ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis.
December 2, 2025 at 1:03 AM
zacklabe.com
🚨 Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the lowest on record (JAXA data)

• about 1,110,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,600,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 2,310,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,810,000 km² below the 1980s mean

More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. The decadal averages are shown with different colored lines with purple for the 1980s, blue for the 1990s, green for the 2000s, and white for the 2010s. Thin white lines are also shown for each year from 2000 to 2024. 2025 is shown with a thick gold line, which is currently a record low for the current date. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent for every day of the year shown on this graph between October and January by looking at the decadal average line positions.
December 1, 2025 at 4:04 PM
zacklabe.com
Temperature anomalies across the #Arctic over the last 12 months...

Data from @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5 reanalysis.
Twelve polar stereographic maps showing 2-m air temperature anomalies in the Arctic from November 2024 to October 2025. Blue shading is shown for colder anomalies, and red shading is shown for warmer anomalies. All months are warmer than average overall. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1981-2010 baseline.
December 1, 2025 at 12:37 PM
zacklabe.com
Ocean temperatures across much of the northern Pacific remained well above average through October. Really the only sizable cooler patch shows up near the traditional region for the ongoing La Niña.

Sea surface temperature data from NOAA OISSTv2.1 (downloads.psl.noaa.gov/Datasets/noa...).
Global map showing sea surface temperature anomalies in October 2025 relative to 1982 to 2010. Most areas are warmer than average. Red is shown for warmer sea surface temperatures, and blue is shown for colder sea surface temperatures. Data is from NOAA OISSTv2.1.
November 30, 2025 at 8:23 PM
zacklabe.com
100 years of average January-October temperature anomalies over land areas through 2025...

Data from NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...
November 30, 2025 at 12:26 PM
zacklabe.com
October 2025 was the warmest October on record for the #Arctic. Arctic sea-ice extent is currently the lowest on record for late November. My newest 'climate viz of the month' summarizes some of this latest data: zacklabe.com/climate-viz-...

#ClimateChange #SciComm #OpenScience #OpenData #DataViz
Climate Viz of the Month
October 2025 Hi everyone! Instead of designing a new special feature visualization, this next ‘climate viz of the month’ blog will focus on briefly summarizing the recent extremes in th…
zacklabe.com
November 29, 2025 at 8:42 PM
zacklabe.com
My first look at the CryoSat-2/Sentinel-3/SMOS merged product for #Arctic sea ice thickness this fall. Note that this is a major version update (now v3.0.0). See more documentation at spaces.awi.de/spaces/CS2SM....

This graphic will now be updated weekly at zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i... 🌊
Two polar stereographic maps showing Arctic sea ice thickness from CryoSat-2/Sentinel-3/SMOS and the difference relative to the previous year (November 2025). Ice thickness is pretty similar overall to last year.
November 29, 2025 at 5:26 PM
zacklabe.com
The extent of global sea ice cover is more than 3 million square kilometers below the 1981-2010 average. This is the 2nd lowest on record for this date over the satellite-era.

Data from nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
Line graph time series of 2025's daily global sea ice extent anomalies in red shading compared to each year from 1979 to 2023 using shades of purple to white for each line. The year 2024 is also highlighted in yellow, which is the current absolute magnitude record low. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1981-2010 baseline. There is substantial interannual and daily variability. Data from the NSIDC.
November 29, 2025 at 2:50 PM
zacklabe.com
Astonishingly, sea ice still hasn't started to reform over the Barents Sea area yet of the #Arctic. This includes record low conditions around Svalbard as well. It's been a very bad few months across the region.

Check out more graphics here: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to each year from 1979 to 2024 as shown with thin lines in colors from purple to white. There is large daily variability, but a long-term decreasing trend during all months of the year. A seasonal cycle is also visible in this region.
November 29, 2025 at 1:13 AM
zacklabe.com
🚨 Friday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the lowest on record (JAXA data)

• about 910,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,500,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 2,170,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,660,000 km² below the 1980s mean

Graphics zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. The decadal averages are shown with different colored lines with purple for the 1980s, blue for the 1990s, green for the 2000s, and white for the 2010s. Thin white lines are also shown for each year from 2000 to 2024. 2025 is shown with a thick gold line, which is currently a record low for the current date. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent for every day of the year shown on this graph between October and January by looking at the decadal average line positions.
November 28, 2025 at 2:37 PM
zacklabe.com
Last month was Earth’s 3rd warmest October on record. A lot of climate extremes regionally too. Every one of the ten warmest Octobers has taken place since 2015. 🧪⚒️

+ Data from NOAAGlobalTemp version 6.0.0: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...
+ More information: www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monit...
A line graph shows the time series of global mean surface temperature anomalies for each October from 1850 through 2025. There is a long-term increasing trend and large year-to-year variability. The mean surface temperature anomaly in October 2025 was 1.23°C globally. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1901-2000 climate baseline. A map of temperature anomalies in October 2025 is also shown. Red shading is for warmer than average temperatures, and blue shading is shown for colder than average temperatures. The climatological baseline on the map is relative to 1971 to 2000. All data is from NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0 on this graphic.
November 28, 2025 at 1:28 PM
zacklabe.com
Have a wonderful #Thanksgiving to everyone that celebrates!

Grateful for the chance to share science with a wide audience, and even more grateful for all of you who support and encourage this work. Thanks for being here. 🥰
November 27, 2025 at 4:43 PM
zacklabe.com
November is warming across large parts of the United States.

Check out some of the weather and climate extremes in your city on Thanksgiving from @climatecentral.org: www.climatecentral.org/climate-matt... 🦃
Climate Cetnral graphic showing Harrisburg, PA area Thanksgiving extremes and November temperatures, which are slightly warming but with large variability.
November 27, 2025 at 1:41 PM
zacklabe.com
Sea surface temperatures are rising around the perimeter of the #Arctic Ocean in November. Long-term trends ➡️ decreasing ice and warming atmosphere+ocean

[For more information: doi.org/10.25923/9z9.... Data from NOAA OISSTv2.1]
Polar stereographic map of sea surface temperature trends for Novembers from 1979 to 2024. Red shading is shown for warming trends, and blue shading is shown for cooling trends. All areas of the ocean are observing warming.
November 26, 2025 at 9:06 PM
zacklabe.com
Last month was the hottest October on record for North America in this dataset... yet another extreme event

Data from @noaa.gov: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...
A line graph shows the time series of North America mean surface temperature anomalies for each October from 1850 through 2025. There is a long-term increasing trend and large year-to-year variability. The mean surface temperature anomaly in October 2025 was 2.82°C for this region. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1910-2000 climate baseline. All data is from NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0 on this graphic.
November 26, 2025 at 12:39 PM
zacklabe.com
Here we go again... another season with unusual warmth around the Hudson Bay and a corresponding record late start to the #Arctic sea ice freeze-up...

Data from @nsidc.bsky.social at nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
Line graph time series showing daily Arctic sea ice extent in the Hudson Bay for 2025 compared to each year from 1979 to 2024. There is a large seasonal cycle on this graph and a long-term decreasing trend for days during the melt season from June to December.
November 26, 2025 at 1:51 AM
zacklabe.com
All latitude bands were warmer than average over the last 6 months. This was particularly visible across the Arctic and Antarctic regions. 🔥

Plot shows zonal-mean temperature anomalies, where latitude = y-axis (not scaled by distance). GISTEMPv4 data using their 1951-1980 baseline.
Bar graph showing zonal mean surface air temperature anomalies for the period of May-June-July-August-September-October 2025. All latitude bands observed above average temperature anomalies.
November 25, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by Zack Labe
climatecentral.org
Tracking the weather this Thanksgiving week 🦃?
🌡️Find past and forecast global temperature anomalies using our Climate Shift Index tool. ⬇️
csi.climatecentral.org/climate-shif...
Map of United States colored in red across central/eastern US and blue in Northern Plains and Pacific northwest. Colors are temperature anomalies for November 25 with red being warmer-than-average and blue being colder than average.
November 25, 2025 at 6:59 PM
zacklabe.com
Nearly the entire Canadian Arctic Archipelago recorded temperatures warmer than 5°C above the 1981-2010 baseline in October 2025. And as I shared yesterday, sea ice in the Baffin Bay is currently a record low for the date... Hudson Bay too (I'll share that next).

Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds...
Regional map of the Canadian Arctic showing October 2025 temperature anomalies. Most areas are warmer than average. Anomalies are calculated to a 1981-2010 baseline with red being warmer than average, and blue being colder than average.
November 25, 2025 at 12:45 PM
zacklabe.com
Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the *2nd* lowest on record (JAXA data)

• about 770,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,390,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 2,010,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,530,000 km² below the 1980s mean

More zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. The decadal averages are shown with different colored lines with purple for the 1980s, blue for the 1990s, green for the 2000s, and white for the 2010s. Thin white lines are also shown for each year from 2000 to 2024. 2025 is shown with a thick gold line. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent for every day of the year shown on this graph between October and January by looking at the decadal average line positions.
November 25, 2025 at 12:00 AM