The past nine years have been the warmest nine years on record. And every decade is warmer than the decade before. This is what the American space agency NASA says on Thursday during a presentation of the latest global climate measurements. The researchers take into account a new global heat record in 2023.
“If our leaders around the world don’t act on these scientific measurements, our ice caps will continue to melt, the oceans will become increasingly acidic and the weather will become more extreme,” said NASA Director Bill Nelson.
He made his statement during the presentation of the latest global measurement data by NASA and the NOAA climate institute. “This is a call to action.”
2022 was the warmest ‘La Niña year’ on record
According to NOAA, the year 2022 is the 6th warmest year ever measured, just above 2021. NASA uses a slightly different calculation method and estimates that 2022 (together with 2015) is in fifth place.
In both cases, that is a heat record for a year in which the natural climate phenomenon La Niña took place. This temperature swing in the Pacific usually results in a slightly cooler year. Without La Niña, 2022 would come in second place.
The counterpart, El Niño, actually increases the warming. According to the researchers, a new global heat record will be set if El Niño occurs (or soon after). According to calculations could that happen in 2023?
For Europe, 2022 was record hot
Western Europe experienced the warmest year in the measurement series, say the Americans, with a record hot summer in particular. 2022 was the second warmest year on record for Asia.
With both research institutes, the US has the two most authoritative measurement series for global temperature. For several decades, the organizations have had satellites that accurately measure the temperature on Earth from space.
Such satellites provide a global picture of the temperature and changes therein. These measurements are in addition to measurements with thermometers on the ground, which have been carried out for much longer.
