2023-07-10 12:59:35
According to experts, there is an increased risk of extreme weather events in Europe due to the high water temperatures in the North Atlantic. The North Atlantic is one of the most important drivers of extreme weather conditions, both in Europe and on the east coast of North America, said the head of climate observation at the World Weather Organization (WMO), Omar Baddour, on Monday in Geneva. With such high, sometimes extreme temperatures, the risk of heavy rain events and hurricanes increases.
According to WMO data, surface temperatures in the North Atlantic in June were 0.9 degrees above the long-term average, and in the north-east (roughly from Ireland to northern Spain) as much as 1.36 degrees. In June off Ireland there were heat waves in the sea with temperatures up to five degrees higher than the average for previous years before the temperature fell once more.
High ocean temperatures and the dramatic decline in Antarctic sea ice extent are deeply troubling, said Michael Sparrow, WMO’s director of climate research. It is known that the Pacific temperature increases with the El Niño weather phenomenon, which is currently building up once more. It is also clear that this has certain effects on other seas, because the oceans are all connected.
“But the extreme temperatures in the North Atlantic right now don’t seem to be related to El Niño, not directly,” he said. “We are still trying to understand why we are experiencing such extreme warming in the North Atlantic.”
The extent of sea ice in Antarctica was reportedly the lowest in June this month since satellite monitoring began in the late 1970s. In June it was 17 percent below the long-term average. The science is looking at whether tipping points will be reached, Sparrow said. According to the definition of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, tipping points are “critical threshold values which, when exceeded, lead to strong and sometimes unstoppable and irreversible changes”.
One such point would be the sudden collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Sparrow said. If the ice melts, a meter-high rise in sea level is to be expected. That would endanger millions of people living near the coast.
“This is obviously something that worries scientists, but we don’t have evidence at this time to say we’re hitting any tipping point,” Sparrow said. The development in Antarctica is very new. “We don’t want to make any assumptions without having all the evidence in hand, which may take some time.”
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