UN Secretary General António Guterres said Thursday that the “situation we are witnessing is proof that climate change is out of control,” commenting on the new global temperature records.
In a press conference at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, Guterres said that if humanity “persists in postponing the main necessary measures” in climate matters, it will move towards “a catastrophic situation, as demonstrates the last two temperature records”.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that temperatures will continue to rise, after breaking the record for the hottest in history last June.
“The exceptional warming of June and early July occurred as the El Niño event was beginning to develop, and is expected to increase heat both on land and in the oceans, leading to more extreme temperatures and marine heat waves,” Chris said. Hewitt, director of Climate Services at WMO, the scientific body of the United Nations.
Last June, temperatures were 0.5 degrees above the average between 1991 and 2020, surpassing the monthly average temperature record for the same month in 2019, according to data from the European “Copernicus” system.
On the other hand, and according to preliminary data, last Monday, July 3, the world average daily temperature reached 16.88 degrees Celsius, surpassing the previous record of 16.80 degrees in August 2016.
Chris Hewitt stated “that more records can be expected as El Niño progresses and its impacts extend until 2024”, which he considered “worrying news for the planet”.
The WMO has noted that global comparisons of daily temperatures are only possible through reanalysis (combinations of satellite simulations and computer models), while this United Nations body uses a combination of reanalysis of a data set based on observations of land-mounted and ship-mounted stations
The WMO scientist in charge explained that sea surface temperatures also broke records in May and June and that this phenomenon will have consequences on the distribution of fish and ocean circulation in general.
“It’s not just about the surface. The entire ocean is heating up and absorbing energy that will remain there for hundreds of years. The alarms are sounding very loud for the unprecedented temperatures in the North Atlantic, ”she warned.
According to the same expert, heat waves have recently been observed in the Atlantic, specifically in parts of the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Baltic Sea.
Source: TSF
