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From NASA’s eyes in the sky, this is a view of the west coast of Greenland downloaded earlier today, looking down on the Ilulissat Icefjord — the outlet for the Jakobshavn Isbrae, the biggest outlet glacier in Greenland and the largest in the northern hemisphere.

I’m posting it to show the numerous large lakes of glacial meltwater that have appeared on top of the ice sheet over recent weeks. At the edge of the ice sheet, the winter snow has melted revealing the greyer ice underneath, but as you climb up the ice away from the coast you get back up into unmelted snow (bottom right). And there are lakes like this a very long way up the west coast, all primed to deliver their water down through moulins to the base of the sheet and thence out to sea, or over the surface in glacial rivers.

In their overview of shifting climate in the region, Overpeck and Udall cite published findings of prevalent signs of change: rising temperatures, earlier snowmelt, northward-shifting winter storms, increasing precipitation intensity and flooding, record-setting drought, plummeting Colorado River reservoir storage, widespread vegetation mortality and more large wildfires. "The West, and especially the Southwest, is leading the nation in climate change – warming, drying, less late-winter snowpack and drought – as well as the impacts of this change," said Overpeck, a UA professor of geosciences and atmospheric sciences and co-director of the Institute of the Environment. In the past 10 years, temperatures in almost all areas in western North America have surpassed the 20th century average, many by more than 1 or even 2 degrees Fahrenheit. The warming has decreased late-season snowpack, which serves as a water reservoir, as well as the annual flow of the Colorado River, the researchers said.

Those reductions, combined with the worst drought observed since 1900, haven't helped matters; water storage in Lakes Powell and Mead, the largest southwestern water reservoirs, fell nearly 50 percent between 1999 and 2004 and has not risen significantly since.

In addition to water, vegetation is feeling the effects of climate change. Work by UA's David Breshears and colleagues have already showed that more than 1 million hectares of piñon pine have died in the Southwest in the last few decades from a lethal combination of record-high temperatures and uncommonly severe drought. In addition, the frequency of large wildfires has increased as snowpack has decreased.

AVAILABILITY of water in the country has been decreasing over the years due to a number of factors including increased demand. The Minister for Water and Irrigation, Prof Mark Mwandosya, said here on Wednesday that the shortage was also caused by climate change which led to a rise of temperatures, drought and decreased levels of lakes and rivers. He said according to studies, Tanzania's temperature has been rising by one degree for the past 60 years.

New daily high temperature records were set in many cities, with June 2010 ranking as the hottest June on record for Delaware, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

The unusual warmth in the highly populated South and Southeast resulted in the second highest June REDTI value in the 116-year record. For the first half of 2010, large footprints of extreme wetness (more than three times the average footprint), warm minimum temperatures ("warm overnight lows"), and areas experiencing heavy 1-day precipitation events resulted in a Climate Extremes Index (CEI) that was about 6 percent higher than the historical average.

The nationally-averaged temperature for June was much warmer than normal. A deep layer of high pressure dominated much of the eastern United States

The wind in northern Arizona is older than Meteor Crater, but the blinding dust storms that have crippled nearby Interstate 40 are new.

Until last year, Highway Patrol officials had never closed I-40, but they have shut down the east-west artery 10 times this spring, including twice on May 22-23.

The full picture of what's causing the dust storms remains a mystery. There have been more frequent days of winds upward of 45 mph, but state and weather officials say that doesn't explain why it is kicking up so much grit.

Quebec is already seeing economic effects of climate change, said Economic Development Minister Clement Gignac. On Lac St. Jean, extremely low water levels forced sailboat owners to remove their craft from the lake, while Rio Tinto, which owns hydro dams in the area, has had to ask Hydro-Quebec for electricity."I know scientists like to be prudent, and they need proof, but there is an accumulation of meteorological anomalies in our weather -heat waves, low precipitation -that have significant economic impact," said Gignac.

The nation’s heaviest rains in June poured down on Nebraska and Iowa. Records were set across both states.Iowa recorded its rainiest June in 138 years and its second-rainiest month ever, exceeded only by the rainfall of July 1993, which led to that year’s “Great Flood.”Northeastern Nebraska saw the state’s heaviest rains, with some areas recording three times the normal amount. Some places got nearly 17 inches.Near Ericson — where nearly 13 inches fell — a dam burst, draining a popular fishing lake.

As more studies reveal findings of an increase in climate extremes in Mongolia, scientists are particularly concerned about the rapid spread of desertification caused by global warming and land degradation due to overgrazing. Presidential advisor on environmental policy, Mr. Zorigt. E, spoke recently revealed some of the most recent and alarming data about the impact of climate change across the country. Zorigt. E – Ecology and environmental policy advisor to the President of Mongolia (M): Twenty percent of all rivers have gone, according to the last count. Many other rivers and lakes are close to disappearing. Seventy-five percent of all territory has been affected by desertification. The northern part of the desertified area includes the capital city. Such an actual process already has become reality. Now we have to wake up and pay attention to it.