Global warming out of control? July was the hottest month on Earth on record

After the report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released this week became aware of the “extreme urgency to act now”, new global data released by the Oceanic Administration and Atmospheric (NOAA) were made public on Friday. who July became the hottest month on record in world history.

“In this case, first place is the worst place to be,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D, who while acknowledging that “July is generally the hottest month of the year in the world,” he warned that “July 2021 has surpassed itself as July and the hottest months on record”.

This new record, in its assessment, “adds to the worrying path that climate change has blazed for the world.”

The publication of the agency under the US Department of Commerce detailed the situation for the month under review.

– In the whole world: The combined temperature of the ocean and land surface was 1.67 degrees F (0.93 degrees C) above the 20th century average of 60.4 degrees F (15.8 degrees C), this which makes it the hottest July since recordings began 142 years ago.

It was also 0.02 grade F (0.01 grade C) higher than the previous record set in July 2016, which was then tied in 2019 and 2020.

– The northern hemisphere: The Earth’s surface temperature was the highest on record in July, averaging a record 2.77 degrees F (1.54 degrees C), breaking the previous record set in 2012.

– Regional records: Asia experienced its hottest July on record, breaking previous record set in 2010; Europe experienced its second hottest July on record, tied with July 2010 and behind July 2018; and North America, South America, Africa and Oceania were in the top 10 hottest in July.

So with last month’s data on the table, 2021 is still very likely among the ten hottest years on record in the world, according to the global analysis of the National Environmental Information Centers (NCEI).

The extreme heat detailed in NOAA’s NCEI monthly reports is also a reflection of the long-term changes outlined in a major report released this week by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). , in which scientists around the world have delivered the most up-to-date assessment of how the climate is changing. “This is a sobering report from the IPCC which concludes that human influence is unequivocally causing climate change and confirms that the impacts are widespread and rapidly escalating,” Spinrad said in a statement.

Other highlights from NOAA’s July Global Climate Report showed sea ice cover varied by hemisphere and across the Arctic in July 2021, it was the fourth smallest for July in a record high age 43, according to an analysis by the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Only July 2012, 2019 and 2020 had less sea ice extent. The extent of sea ice in Antarctica was above average in July, the largest extent of sea ice in July since 2015 and the eighth highest on record.

On another side, the tropics were busier than average: In the Atlantic basin, the fifth oldest named storm of the season, Elsa, formed on July 1. The northeastern and western basins of the Pacific have each experienced three named storms. Overall, global tropical cyclone activity this year so far this year (through July) has been above normal for the number of named storms.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reacted to the report by stressing that it is a real “red alarm” for humanity and that it “must end” fossil fuels “before ‘they do not destroy our planet “. The leader also demanded that no more coal-fired power plants be built from 2021 and that he end further exploration and production of fossil fuels, shifting his subsidies to renewable energy.

In all scenarios, according to the report, the world will cross the 1.5 degree Celsius line in the 2030s, earlier than previous forecasts. Warming has accelerated in recent years, data shows.

The more than 3,000-page document, prepared by 234 scientists, notes that warming is already accelerating sea level rise, melting the planet’s ice and worsening extreme events such as heat waves, droughts, floods and storms. Tropical cyclones get stronger and wetter, while arctic sea ice shrinks in summer and permafrost melts. All of these trends will worsen, the report notes.

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