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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/08/temperatures-1-point-5c-above-pre-industrial-era-average-for-12-months-data-shows>
"The world has baked for 12 consecutive months in temperatures 1.5C (2.7F)
greater than their average before the fossil fuel era, new data shows.
Temperatures between July 2023 and June 2024 were the highest on record,
scientists found, creating a year-long stretch in which the Earth was 1.64C
hotter than in preindustrial times.
The findings do not mean world leaders have already failed to honour their
promises to stop the planet heating 1.5C by the end of the century – a target
that is measured in decadal averages rather than single years – but that
scorching heat will have exposed more people to violent weather. A sustained
rise in temperatures above this level also increases the risk of uncertain but
catastrophic tipping points.
Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which
analysed the data, said the results were not a statistical oddity but a “large
and continuing shift” in the climate.
“Even if this specific streak of extremes ends at some point, we are bound to
see new records being broken as the climate continues to warm,” he said. “This
is inevitable unless we stop adding greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and
the oceans.”
Copernicus, a scientific organisation that belongs to the EU’s space programme,
uses billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather
stations to track key climate metrics. It found June 2024 was hotter than any
other June on record and was the 12th month in a row with temperatures 1.5C
greater than their average between 1850 and 1900.
Because temperatures in some months had “relatively small margins” above 1.5C,
the scientists said, datasets from other climate agencies may not confirm the
12-month temperature streak.
Whether pumped out the chimney of a coal-burning power plant or ejected from
the exhaust pipe of a passenger plane, each carbon molecule clogging the
Earth’s atmosphere traps heat and warps weather. The hotter the planet gets,
the less people and ecosystems can adapt."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
