[ad_1]
The Earth endured 12 months of temperatures 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial temperatures for the first time on record, Europe’s climate watchdog announced Thursday, in what scientists called a “warning for humanity.”
As climate change accelerates due to the naturally occurring El Niño phenomenon, storms, droughts and fires ravage the planet, causing record warming and likely making 2023 the warmest in 100,000 years.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced that extreme events will continue until 2024, with a warming of 1.52 degrees Celsius above the 19th century baseline from February 2023 to January 2024.
Scientists said this was a significant precursor to the Paris Climate Agreement’s key warming threshold of 1.5 degrees, but did not indicate a permanent violation of this limit, which is measured over decades.
“Temperatures have reached 1.5 degrees Celsius and the costs, social costs and economic costs are visible,” said Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
“1.5 is a huge number and is really hurting us in terms of heatwaves, droughts, floods, intensification of storms and water scarcity around the world. That’s what you taught me.”
Recent months have seen extremes across the globe, including a devastating drought hitting the Amazon basin, sweltering winter temperatures in parts of southern Europe, deadly wildfires in South America, and record rainfall in California. A phenomenon is occurring.
“It is clearly a warning to humanity that we are moving faster than expected towards the agreed 1.5 degrees Celsius limit that we have signed,” Rockström told AFP. He added that the temperature is likely to drop somewhat.
Professor Copernicus said last month was the hottest January on record, marking the eighth consecutive month of record high temperatures and exceeding estimates of the January average from 1850 to 1900, the pre-industrial reference period. He said the overall temperature was 1.66℃ higher.
“2024 begins with another record month. Not only is it the warmest January on record, but we have just had 12 months warmer than the pre-industrial reference period by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius,” said Samantha Burgess of C3S. he said. Deputy director.
Global warming emissions, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, have continued to rise in recent years, but scientists say emissions need to be cut by almost half this decade, and the United Nations’ IPCC climate committee It warns that the world is likely to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius. Early 2030s.
“We’re having another very hot year, which is bad news for nature and for the people who are feeling the effects,” Joeli Logerge, professor of climate science and policy at Imperial College London, told AFP. he said.
“Unless global emissions are brought to zero soon, the world will soon exceed the safety limits set by the Paris Climate Agreement.”
“Off the charts”
Copernicus said temperatures in January were well above average in northwestern Africa, the Middle East, central Asia, eastern Canada and southern Europe.
However, parts of Northern Europe, western Canada, and the central United States were below average.
And while parts of the world experienced an unusually wet January, parts of North America, the Horn of Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula saw drier conditions.
Dry conditions in Chile, which suffers from intense summer heatwaves and drought, are conducive to wildfires, Copernicus said.
The situation continued into February, with the fires that started on Friday turning into a deadly inferno that ripped through neighboring Valparaiso coastal areas over the weekend, killing more than 130 people.
Copernicus said the El Niño phenomenon, which warms waters in the southern Pacific Ocean and brings global heat, is beginning to weaken near the Pacific equator.
Meanwhile, sea surface temperatures continue to set new records.
Rockström said 2023 was “a year where ocean dynamics just went wild, it’s off the charts.”
Oceans cover 70 percent of the Earth and have kept the Earth’s surface viable since the dawn of the industrial age by absorbing 90 percent of the excess heat produced by carbon pollution from human activities. I did.
As ocean temperatures rise, there will be more moisture in the atmosphere, leading to more unstable weather such as strong winds and heavy rain.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[ad_2]
Source link
