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Last summer in the northern hemisphere was the hottest since world records began in 1880. An analysis by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) confirmed that June , July and August They were on average 0.23°C warmer than any other summer.
The report from the US space agency coincides with the alert from the Copernic Climate Change Service, which last week reported that July and August they broke all the brands. These are the two months with the highest temperatures recorded so far.
“The record summer temperatures of 2023 are not just a set of numbers, but have dire real-world consequences,” NASA chief Bill Nelson said in a statement. “Extreme weather is threatening lives and livelihoods around the world… They are a threat to our planet and future generations,” he stressed.
NASA compiles its temperature record, known as GISTEMP, from surface air temperature data captured by tens of thousands of weather stations. It also takes into account the temperature of the sea surface, thanks to instruments distributed on ships and buoys.
The final analysis calculates temperature anomalies, rather than absolute temperature. NASA explained that it considers a temperature to be anomalous when it departs from the average recorded between 1951 and 1980. In this sense, Last summer was 1.2°C warmer than that baseline indicator.
NASA says this summer is a sample of what will happen in 2024
NASA explained that the El Niño phenomenon triggered the records last summer. This, added to the effects of climate change caused by human activity and high sea surface temperatures. “The heat waves we experience now are longer, hotter and harsher”said Josh Willis, a climate scientist and oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Willis noted that the atmosphere can now hold more water. “And when it’s hot and humid, it’s even harder for the human body to regulate its temperature,” he added. Another study, published last week by the Washington Postassures that more than half of the world’s population will suffer at least a month of extreme heat in 2050.
Scientists hope that The biggest impact on El Niño temperatures will be felt in February, March and April of next year. This natural phenomenon causes the weakening of the eastern trade winds and the movement of warm waters from the western Pacific towards the western coast of America. It typically results in colder, wetter conditions in the southwestern US and drought in Western Pacific countries such as Indonesia and Australia.
A May analysis by the World Meteorological Organization predicted there is a 98% chance that at least one of the next five years will be the warmest on record. In fact, 2023, so far – from January to August – is the second warmest year. The first place is occupied by 2016, when, precisely, a powerful warming episode caused by El Niño occurred.
«Unfortunately, climate change is happening. “What we said would happen, is happening,” said Gavin Schmidt, climate scientist and director of GISS. “And it will get worse if we continue to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.”
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