Its official says the World Meteorological Organization: 2016 is the hottest year on record, with global temperatures averaging 1.2˚C warmer than the pre-industrial era. Almost everywhere was hotter this year, but the burn wasn’t evenly distributed: the Russian Arctic was an alarming 6˚- 7˚C degrees hotter. Bad news for polar bears. Ocean temperatures are also at an all-time high, causing vast bleaching events across the Great Barrier Reef. Here’s an article in The Conversation on 2016’s relentless rise of global warming.

Also from this week, an interview on Radio New Zealand’s Nights program with IFF Director Margaret Wertheim discussing the Crochet Coral Reef project and its marriage of science and art as a method for engaging audiences about climate change in ways that are powerful, positive and constructive.