The Earth’s average temperature reached a new heat record on Thursday above 17 degrees Celsius, according to data from the Climate Reanalyzer at the University of Maine in the United States.
According to the source, which relies on satellite data and computer simulations to make the measurements, the global average temperature on Thursday was 17.23 degrees Celsius.
Thursday’s average passed Tuesday’s mark of 17.18, which was matched on Wednesday. On Monday the registered average had been 17.01, according to unofficial records.
The US Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) on Thursday issued a note of caution about information released by the University of Maine, saying it could not confirm the data resulting in part from computer simulations.
“While NOAA cannot validate the methodology or conclusion of the University of Maine analysis, we do recognize that we are in a warm period due to climate change,” NOAA said.
Still, the Maine data has been widely regarded as a worrisome sign of climate change around the world. Some climate scientists said this week that they were not surprised by the unofficial records.
Robert Watson, a scientist and former chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that governments and the private sector “are not really committed to climate change.”
Scientists have warned for months that 2023 could see record heat as man-made climate change, driven in large part by the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil, warms the atmosphere.
These observations are probably a preview of what will come with the phenomenon called El Niño -generally associated with an increase in temperatures on a global scale-, complemented by the effects of climate warming caused by human activity.
Source: TSF
