Apollo News Snippets – March 2025

• It’s the time we’ve all been waiting for, as it’s time to unveil this month’s list of cool technological advancements so here we go!
  Optical memory could be on the horizon.
  A nano-material that is stronger than steel and as light as stryofoam.
  Carbon nano-tubes can be recycled now.
  A new, safer way to store hydrogen for fuel.
  Tape, plastic wrap and aluminum can generate enough power for LED lights.
  A way to super-charge photosynthesis in plants and trees.
  A sustainable, non-toxic water filter.

North America experienced its 10th warmest January on record. January 2025 ended up being the warmest on record for Hawaii. The Caribbean had its third warmest January on record. Australia had its second warmest January since national records were kept starting in 1910. Oceania had its second warmest January on record. Asia had its third warmest January on record. Finally, Europe had its third warmest January on record. (Image Credit: NOAA Global Climate Report)

• The NOAA Global Climate Change Report for January 2025 has been released by the National Centers for Environmental Information and reveals further proof that global climate change remains a concern. The January global surface temperature was 1.33°C (2.39°F) above the 20th Century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F), making it the warmest January on record. It also was the warmest January for the global land air temperature and the second warmest January for global ocean surface temperature. The Northern Hemisphere had its warmest January on record at 1.81°C (3.26°F) above average. The Arctic region had its fourth warmest January on record. January in the Southern Hemisphere ranked second warmest on record at 0.85°C (1.53°F) above average. Sea surface temperatures were much warmer than average to record warm across a large part of the equatorial western Pacific, while near-average to cooler-than-average conditions were present in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, consistent with La Niña conditions. Record-warm conditions also occurred in the southwest Indian Ocean and parts of the eastern North Atlantic and Caribbean.

• March often brings warm weather which kickstarts off the spring season. Many green thumbs are dreaming of what they’ll plant in their backyard garden. One professional GIS specialist, Tom Simon, decided to use his gardening expertise and computer mapping skills to create a GIS approach to laying out his garden. According to the gardener, GIS “combines the flexibility of digital mapping, the data management and manipulation of databases, and ease of combining information, photos, measurements, and calculations to provide a powerful garden management tool.” Tom planned to generate a precise map of his garden with measurements, plants, soil science, and other relevant details that would guide him for planting season. Happy gardening and growing season to all the green thumbs out there!

Brock Adam McCarty
Map Wizard
(720) 470-7988
brock@apollomapping.com