The jump from the previous record, from 2020, was 0.5 degrees, according to the EU’s climate monitoring service.
In this context, there is a lot and a margin that has never been observed before.
– A death sentence for people and ecosystems, says researcher Friederike Otto about the global temperature record for September in a statement to the AP news agency.
Otto is a physicist and employee of the Imperial College of London.
Otto is not the only one who has come up with dramatic climate warnings recently. Pope Francis recently stated that the world is “collapsing”, while UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that “the gates of hell have been opened” in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
New heat record: – Completely bananas
– Terrifying
June, July and August were also record warm. But the temperature jump in September was greater, compared to the previous record for this month.
Therefore, 2023 is now set to be the hottest year ever recorded on the planet.
– It is frightening to see how high temperatures we had this summer and now last September, says Kjetil Aas, senior researcher at the Cicero Center for climate research, to Dagbladet and adds:
– These records are very high, but at the same time these are temperatures we must return to in the future, if we do not quickly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO₂.
Climate scientist Tore Furevik why the heat wave and forest fires are ravaging Europe and what consequences it may have. Reporter: Mia Engenes Bratlie / Video: Dagbladet TV Show more
El Niño may be the cause
The main explanation for the high temperatures is believed to be man-made global warming, in combination with the El Niño weather phenomenon.
– We have just come out of a so-called La Niña period. There is a weather phenomenon over the Pacific Ocean that has helped keep temperatures down. The heat records in recent years have come despite this, says Aas and adds:
– Now we are over an El Niño period, which is the warm phase. This comes on top of general global warming, which together explains much of the records we are seeing this year.
It is speculated whether other factors may also play a role, among them an undersea volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean, but this is still uncertain.
The “Mamma Mia!” island is now unrecognizable, after the extreme weather Daniel hit several places in Greece. Reporter: Anabelle Bruun/Dagbladet TV Show more
– Must adapt
According to the climate scientist, it is difficult to predict seasonality, but with the man-made climate emissions, in combination with El Niño, which is predicted to last well into 2024, there are many indications that the high temperatures will continue.
Aas believes that there are two things in particular that we must take seriously in the coming years:
– We must cut our emissions, and we must adapt to a warmer climate. In Norway, this means that we have to adapt to a wetter climate, he says.
People have to move time and place for vacations
– Absolutely exceptional
Climate researcher and director at the Nansen Centre, Tore Furevik, believes that the size of the September records surprises many. He points out that in September a new record was also set for the average temperature in Europe – 1.1 degrees warmer than in 2020.
– It is absolutely exceptional. Statistically, it is almost impossible, he tells Dagbladet.
– We knew that the El Niño effect would lead to new records, but that they would be so big and powerful I think surprised everyone.
Furevik also expects that the records will continue to fall in the coming months.
– It just seems that the records are getting bigger. Everything indicates that this will continue in the future, with many new records throughout the winter and spring.
– We are not heard
– No death sentence
However, Furevik would not use the words “death sentence”, like Friederike Otto.
– It is not a death sentence, but it is clear that the hotter and more extreme weather you get, the more people and more nature will be negatively affected. It is important to get emissions down to zero as quickly as possible, and keep the change as low as possible, says Furevik.
The UN determined earlier this autumn that the world is not on track to reach the climate targets in the Paris Agreement. One of the central goals in the climate agreement is to limit global warming to two degrees, and preferably 1.5 degrees.
The average temperature in September was 1.75 degrees above pre-industrial times, so one limit has thus been temporarily passed.
However, the world has not “missed the mark” until the limit has been permanently crossed.
The most important direct cause of the high global temperatures is that large ocean areas have been record hot for many months. The amount of sea ice in Antarctica was at a historic low last month.
2023-10-15 04:20:49
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