The month of July 2023 was the warmest on record, NASA confirmed this Monday, which expects this year could also be the warmest and temperatures will continue to rise in 2024.
According to US Space Agency calculations, the month of July 2023 was 0.24°C warmer than any other month for which temperature records exist and 1.18°C warmer than the July average between 1951 and 1980, with the five warmest July months since 1880 all in the past five years.
Late last month, the European Earth observation service Copernicus had expected July 2023 to be the hottest month on record, noting that high temperatures are linked to heat waves in North America, Asia and Europe.
“What we are experiencing is abnormal and above the expected trend. (…) We expect 2023 to be exceptionally warm, but 2024 to be an even warmer year”said the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies at a press conference today.
According to Gavin Schmidt, the effects of the El Niño meteorological phenomenon partially explain the increase recorded this year, but the potential effects have not yet been fully felt, with “a larger event at the end of the year” expected.
Also according to Sarah Kapnick, head of the United States Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation Agency (NOAA), there is a 50% chance that 2023 will be the year with the highest recorded temperatures.
“The strongest impact of El Niño will occur in 2024″added Gavin Schmidt
Of particular interest to scientists are ocean surface temperatures, which have reached record highs for the fourth consecutive month, according to NOAA.
“More than 40% of the oceans are experiencing a maritime heat wave”said Sarah Kapnick, warning of the potentially disastrous consequences for marine species, especially corals.
“Mother Nature is sending us a message: we better act now, before it’s too late, to save the climate and the planet”in turn added NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Quoted by the EFE bureau, the head of the marine ecology lab at the Goddard Institute, Carlos Del Castillo, also explained that the warming of the oceans’ temperature is “causing more water to enter the atmosphere”, which could help prevent “storms” in winter. much stronger snow”.
The effects of global warming also translate into “heat waves and more intense rains” and contribute to this “the increase in wildfires in areas affected by high temperatures”the experts explain.
“The storm tracks are moving north due to climate change. Hawaii has been receiving less precipitation for a decade and long-term effects are starting to show.”cited Gavin Schmidt as an example regarding the fires that devastated the island of Maui in Hawaii.
The climate crisis, he added, is “kind of a threat multiplier in wildfires” and “there’s a general trend that we’re going to see increasingly toward bigger and more intense wildfires.”
Source: DN
