Climate experts say the long-term goal of keeping global temperature rises to within 1.5°C is out of reach.
Average air temperatures on Earth’s surface for days were 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to the European Union-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Although average temperatures had briefly risen above 1.5°C before, this was the first time it had crossed this threshold in the northern hemisphere during the summer that began on June 1. The sea temperature this month also exceeded the levels recorded in the past April and May.
“We don’t have much time because change takes time,” said Sarah Perkins Kirkpatrick, a climate scientist at the Australian University of New South Wales.
Temperatures exceeded records for the month of June in the Chinese capital, Beijing, while severe heat waves hit the United States.
Temperatures across North America were about 10 degrees Celsius warmer than average this month, while clouds of smoke from wildfires blanketed Canada and the east coast of the United States with an estimated 160 million metric tons of carbon emissions.
India, one of the regions most affected by climate change, recorded an increase in the number of deaths as a result of the continuing rise in temperatures, and Spain and Vietnam recorded severe temperatures, which raised fears that the summer of last year, which witnessed a rise in the number of deaths, would become normal.
Countries agreed in Paris in 2015 to try to keep the long-term average temperature rise within 1.5°C, but in May the World Meteorological Organization predicted 66 percent of the annual average would exceed the 1.5°C threshold for a full year at a time. least between now and 2027.
“Quadruple Strike”
The global mean sea surface temperature reached 21°C in late March and remained at record levels throughout April and May.
Piers Forster, professor of climate physics at the University of Leeds, said global warming was the main factor, but the reasons also included El Niño, the decline of desert dust blowing over the ocean, and the use of low-sulfur fuel for ships.
“So all in all, the oceans are getting a quadruple hit… This is an indication of things to come.”
And warming seas could also mean less winds and precipitation, creating a vicious cycle that leads to more heat, said Annalisa Bracco, a climate scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
She added that although the higher sea temperatures this year were caused by a “perfect combination” of conditions, the environmental impact may continue.
She explained, “The response of the oceans will be very slow, as they will slowly accumulate (heat), but they will also maintain it for a very long time.”
Climate experts say the range and frequency of extreme weather is increasing, and this year has also seen droughts around the world, as well as a rare cyclone that killed hundreds in Africa.
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2023-06-30 13:55:41