Meanwhile, Outside...

And now we're back on schedule.

From the climate scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

Averaged as a whole, the global land and ocean temperature for September 2017 was 0.78°C (1.40°F) higher than the 20th century average of 15.0°C (59.0°F). This was the fourth highest September temperature on record for the globe since records began in 1880, behind 2015 (+0.93°C / +1.67°F), 2016 (+0.88°C / +1.58°F), and 2014 (+0.79°C / +1.42°F). The 10 warmest Septembers have occurred during the 21st century, specifically since 2003. September 2017 also marks the 41st consecutive September and the 393rd consecutive month with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th century average.

And then there's the year-to-date:

The first nine months of the year have each ranked among the top four warmest months on record, giving way to the second highest January–September period in the 138-year record at 0.87°C (1.57°F) above the 20th century average of 14.1°C (57.5°F), trailing behind the record year of 2016 by 0.13°C (0.23°F), but ahead of 2015 by 0.01°C (0.02°F). Nine of the 10 warmest January-September global land and ocean temperatures occurred during the 21st century (since 2005), with only one year from the 20th century (1998) among the top 10.

Meanwhile in the climate-denying White House, the assault on science continues:

Before becoming President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Scott Pruitt spent years fighting environmental regulation. Since taking over the EPA, Pruitt has denied the scientific community’s consensus opinion on global warming and removed most mentions of climate change from the EPA website, leaving agency employees worried that they will be prevented from keeping the public informed about climate change. Those concerns appear to have been borne out over the weekend, when the EPA barred three of its scientists from giving presentations on climate change at a conference in Rhode Island.

As the New York Times first reported, EPA scientists Autumn Oczkowski, Rose Martin, and Emily Shumchenia were scheduled to speak at Monday’s State of the Narragansett Bay and Watershed, an event that will coincide with the release of a report on the health of Narragansett Bay. Oczkowski, Martin, Shumchenia all contributed to the report, which, according to organizers, features “significant” discussion of how climate change has affected the bay. Tom Borden, whose Narragansett Bay Estuary Program is hosting the conference, told the Times that an EPA official called him on Friday to cancel the scientists’ appearances. “I was not really provided with a clear explanation,” Borden said. “He advised me that it was the decision of the E.P.A. Office of Public Affairs.”

It's hardly surprising that the Trump White House would attempt to stop the science, given that the report's Executive Summary actually begins with this:

Today’s environmental status of Narragansett Bay (Bay) and the entire Narragansett Bay Watershed (Watershed) is the result of hundreds of years of human activities and environmental variability. Numerous organizations have worked together for decades to reverse trends of declining environmental conditions and to understand new threats such as those associated with climate change.

And then a few paragraphs later:

Stressors associated with climate change are increasing rapidly. Air and water temperatures are warming, the intensity and seasonality of precipitation are changing, and sea level is rising. These stressors are already causing ecological responses such as altering the estuarine fish community, with warm-water species increasing and cold-water species declining. Impacts of climate change on the cities, towns, and ecosystem of Narragansett Bay are projected to intensify, such as increased flooding and erosion of coastal properties, loss of salt marshes, and potentially more beach closures due to pathogens. Adaptation will require well-informed action by local communities.

Meanwhile it's still getting warmer out there, no matter what the little-handed pussy-grabber says.