D wildfires in Canada, flooding in Libya, two disasters in one year of extreme weather. 2023 will go down as the hottest year on recordtells Voice of America (VOA).
Every month from June to November was the hottest for that time of year. July 2023 was the warmest July on record. Global temperatures in September were much warmer than normal. Relentless heating from human-induced climate change plus the periodic global weather phenomenon known as El Niño has caused extreme weather around the world. So we know that with that extra heat in the atmosphere, it brings with it extra energy, which means we get more intense extreme events.
Not every bout of bad weather is due to climate change. But climate scientists with the World Weather Attribution website have found the footprints of global warming on these weather disasters. In April, Thailand and Laos broke historical records for high temperatures. Scientists say a heat wave is almost impossible without climate change. The western Mediterranean broke temperature records this month in a heat wave 100 times more likely.
Southern Europe is baking again in July. So did China and the border region between the United States and Mexico.
The southwestern US city of Phoenix recorded 31 days above 43.3 degrees Celsius, or 110 Fahrenheit. That’s a record.
It’s not a record that anyone wanted to break, but it’s definitely one that people in Phoenix aren’t happy about. The intensity of these heat waves would have been nearly impossible without climate change, according to the World Weather Attribution. But on today’s hotter planet, we can expect them every 5, 10 or 15 years.
Higher temperatures dry out soils and vegetation faster. This helped make the record-breaking wildfires that ravaged eastern Canada this year at least 7 times more likely and 50% more intense. It is also the cause of severe droughts in Syria, Iraq and Iran and the food security crisis in Somalia and the rest of the Horn of Africa. Both are made at least 100 times more likely.
Although Somalia contributes virtually nothing to climate change, Somalis are among the biggest victims. Climate change exacerbates droughts, but also floods. Because warmer air holds more water, which means heavier rain storms.
The World Weather Attribution team says it was 50 times more likely and 50% more intense than it would have been without climate change. And heavy rains in November in the Horn of Africa were about twice as intense. The drought has already pushed many people in the area to the edge of what they can handle.
The effects of flooding really show the limits of what humans can adapt to are really not far in many parts of the world.
And as long as we keep burning fossil fuels, these things will happen again and again and again. Forecasters say El Niño is likely to subside around the middle of next year. But there are no signs that climate change is abating. As we continue to warm the planet, what used to be extreme weather is becoming more frequent.
Steve Baragona.
Source: Voice of America (VOA), dariknews.bg
2024-01-03 06:59:59
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