Record July heat wave given sad explanation: ‘Out of control’

Amid the hottest week on record, the UN says climate change is “out of control”. An unofficial analysis shows that after record days of heat on Monday and Tuesday, the world may have had the hottest seven days in a row.

The UN Secretary-General said “climate change is out of control” as an unofficial data analysis showed that average global temperatures seven days before Wednesday were the hottest week on record.

“If we persist in postponing key measures that are needed, I think we are heading towards a catastrophic situation, as evidenced by the last two temperature records,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said, referring to world temperature records broken on Monday and Tuesday. .

According to data compiled by the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), the global average temperature on Tuesday was 17.18°C, surpassing the record 17.01°C reached on Monday.

For the seven-day period ending Wednesday, the average daily temperature was 0.04°C, higher than any week in 44 years of records, according to the University of Maine Climate Analyzer.

This indicator showed that the average temperature of the Earth on Wednesday remained at a record high level – 17.18 ° C.

According to The Guardian, the Climate Reanalyzer uses data from the NCEP Climate Prediction System to produce a time series of two-meter daily average air temperature based on surface, balloon and satellite observations.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), whose data is considered the gold standard in climate data, said on Thursday it could not confirm the unofficial figures.

The agency noted that the reanalyzer is using what it called “inappropriate” model output as a substitute for actual temperature and climate data. NOAA tracks global temperatures and maintains records on a monthly and yearly basis rather than daily.

“We recognize that we are in a warm period due to climate change, and combined with El Niño and hot summer conditions, we are seeing record high surface temperatures recorded in many places around the world,” the National Oceanic and Oceanic Administration said. atmospheric research.

However, scientists agree that the available evidence indicates that climate change is reaching uncharted territory and that the increase in heat from anthropogenic global warming, combined with the return of El Niño, will lead to new record temperatures.

The UN confirmed the return of El Niño, a sporadic weather event, on Tuesday. The last major El Niño was recorded in 2016, which remains the hottest year on record. “There is a possibility that July will be the warmest on record, and with it the hottest month on record… “ever” means since the Aims [межледникового периода]which actually happened about 120,000 years ago,” said Dr Carsten Haustein, a researcher in atmospheric radiation at the University of Leipzig.

Various parts of the world are experiencing heatwaves, and on Thursday the EU climate monitoring service said the world had the hottest June on record last month.

In recent weeks, the south of the United States has been sweltering with extreme heat, including on Tuesday, during the national holiday of July 4th. In some parts of China, prolonged heat persists, with temperatures reaching over 35 degrees Celsius.

Overall, one of the main factors behind this week’s temperature records is the exceptionally mild winter in Antarctica. In parts of the continent and the nearby ocean, temperatures were 10-20°C warmer than the average for the period from 1979 to 2000.

“Temperatures over the ocean and especially around Antarctica have been unusual this week because wind fronts over the Southern Ocean are strong and push warm air deeper south,” said Ragu Murtugudde, professor of atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial systems at the University of Maryland and visiting professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.

Chari Vijayaraghavan, a polar explorer and educator who has regularly visited the Arctic and Antarctic over the past 10 years, said global warming is evident at both poles and is threatening the region’s wildlife, as well as melting ice, which is raising sea levels.

“A warmer climate could increase the risk of diseases such as avian influenza spreading in Antarctica, with devastating consequences for penguins and other fauna in the region,” Vijayaraghavan said.