2023-07-06 10:38:00
The planet’s average temperature remained at record highs on Wednesday following two days in which unofficial records were broken. This is the latest marker in a series of extreme events caused by climate change.
The global average temperature was 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Climate Reanalyzer, a tool from the University of Maine that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the state of the planet. The figure equaled the record set the day before, following the previous mark was broken on Monday with a temperature of 17.01 Celsius (62.6 Fahrenheit).
Scientists have been warning for months that 2023 might be record hot as climate change, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil, warms the atmosphere.
In addition, they pointed out that La Niña, the natural cooling of the oceans that had acted as a counterweight to that warming, was giving way to El Niño, the inverse phenomenon marked by the increase in ocean temperatures. The North Atlantic has recorded record warming this year.
“A record like this is further evidence of the now massively supported thesis that global warming is pushing us into a hotter future,” said Chris Field, a Stanford University climate scientist who was not involved. in the calculations.
Sean Birkle, a climatologist at the University of Maine and creator of the Climate Reanalyzer, explained that the daily figures are not official but offer a useful portrait of what is happening in an increasingly warming world.
And while they’re not a government record, “they give us an indication of where we are right now,” said Sarah Kapnick, chief scientist at the National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The US agency indicated that it will take them into account for its calculations of official records.
Although the data set used to determine the unofficial record goes back only as far as 1979, Kapnick said that, given other data, it’s likely that the planet is recording its hottest day “in the several hundred years we’ve had.” acquaintance”.
Scientists often use much longer measurements — months, years, decades — to track global warming. But the daily highs are an indication that climate change is reaching uncharted territory.
On Wednesday, 38 million Americans were under some form of heat alert, Kapnick added.
That included communities that are not used to so much heat. In North Grenville, Ontario, the city turned ice hockey rinks into cooling centers as thermometers reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) Wednesday, with humidity reaching a wind chill of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius). ).
“I feel like we’re living in a tropical country,” city spokeswoman Jill Sturdy said. “It’s like you get hit. The air is so thick.”
With many places with temperatures nearing 37.8 degrees C (close to 100 F), the average might not seem very high. But Tuesday’s global high was almost a degree Celsius (1.8 F) above the average recorded for the period between 1979 and 2000, which already exceeds the averages of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Quebec and Peru have surpassed their high temperature records this week. Last week, Beijing recorded nine straight days in which thermometers exceeded 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). Cities across the United States, from Medford, Oregon, to Tampa, Florida, have hovered around all-time highs, said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
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