Global warming reaches “unprecedented” levels in the last 24,000 years

A group of scientists analyzed the global temperature data in the last 24,000 years and how it has been its evolution in this period of time. After several analyzes, the experts managed to show that the warming on Earth has now reached an “unprecedented” level as a consequence of human action. (Read: New promises from COP26 bring global warming below 2 ° C)

To reach this conclusion, experts from the University of Arizona (in the United States) reconstructed at 200-year intervals maps of global temperatures since the ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago. The results were published in the journal Nature.

In addition to establishing these intervals, the scientists set about creating maps with temperatures from the past. For their elaboration they resorted to two independent data sets: data of temperatures of marine sediments and computer simulations of the climate.

These maps, says Matthew Osman, lead author of the research, can be used by anyone and allow you to analyze changes in temperatures “throughout the Earth and in a very personal way.” Scientists took about eight years to make these maps.

With the data, the researchers were able to verify that the main responsible for climate change since then have been the increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases and the retreat of the ice sheets. (You can read: Unesco will study the risks of marine species due to global warming)

Another of the research results indicates that the general trend over the last 10,000 years is warming, rather than cooling, which they believe has closed an old debate in the paleontological community.

Jessica Tierney, co-author of the study, explained in a statement that “this reconstruction suggests that current temperatures are unprecedented in the past 24,000 years, and also suggests that the rate of global warming caused by humans is faster than in any moment of that period ”.

Scientists warn that the magnitude and speed with which the temperature has risen over the past 150 years far exceeds the changes recorded over the past 24,000 years. “The fact that we are now so far outside the limits considered normal is cause for alarm and should surprise everyone,” says Osman.

Tierney points out that “the reconstruction carried out by our team improves that curve by adding a spatial dimension. Being able to visualize evolution over 24,000 years in the place where I am sitting today, or where I grew up, really gives an idea of ​​the severity of climate change ”. (You may be interested: UN warns about lack of ambition to limit global warming)

After publishing the results, the experts now seek to apply this method to study ancient climates that were warmer than today, since those periods are essentially windows to the future, as greenhouse gas emissions increase.

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