2018 was the fourth hottest year ever recorded – 06/02/2019 – Environment



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last year was the fourth hottest ever recorded, generating a scorching wave, fueled by the build-up of greenhouse gases, according to NASA and Copernicus, the service of the company. Union dedicated to climate change

According to GED (Goddard Institute for Space Studies) scientists, the global temperature of 2018 was 0.83 ° C above average between 1951 and 1980. The temperatures of 2018 only lose those of from 2016, 2017 and 2015, throughout the record. The last five years have been the warmest since the end of the 19th century and 18 since 2001, since 2001, 18 of the 19 warmest years

Global warming is at least partly due to the emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, says Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA 's GISS.

"Dramatic climatic events, such as a hot and dry summer in many parts of Europe or a rise in temperatures in the Arctic regions, are alarming signs for all of us," said Jean -Noël Thépaut, head of Copernicus

Among the other extremes of 2018, California and Greece suffered serious forest fires, Kerala, India, experienced the worst floods since the 1920s, and Heat waves have hit Australia and North Africa.

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center of the United States, the extent of sea ice reached a record high in early 2019.

Freja Vamborg, Chief Scientist Copernicus, said

The last four years have been marked by the highest average temperatures since the beginning of records in the 19th century – 2016 was the hottest, spurred by an El Niño event that warmed the world. the surface of the Pacific Ocean, before 2017 and beyond 2015.

The Copernicus Report states that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere reached a new record of 406.7 parts per year million (ppm) by 2018, d and 404.1 by 2017, mainly fueled by the burning of human fossil fuels.

And the average global temperature over the last five years was 1.1 ° C higher than the pre-industrial period, he said. According to a UN climate report last year, temperatures will increase by 1.5 ° C compared to the preindustrial period by mid-century, given current trends, which opens up the prospect of an even more extreme climate.

But how can you be sure? that global warming is real, if the models used to make the accounts are so complex? "It's the essence of science, you think you understand how something works, make models, make predictions and see if they come true, but unfortunately we are in a situation where we see that it has become a reality. And while it is intellectually pleasing, it sucks. "

UN Report says governments will have to cut their unprecedented greenhouse gas emissions to keep temperatures below 1.5 ° C increase, the most difficult goal set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Nearly 200 countries have agreed on a "settlement" to govern the Paris deal at the talks held in Poland last month, although critics say that it is insufficient to prevent dangerous climate change.

The Paris Agreement aims to end the era of fossil fuels during this century, shifting to cleaner energies such as wind and solar power. US President Donald Trump plans to withdraw and boost US fossil fuel industry

Copernicus report confirms World Meteorological Organization (WMO) forecast in November that 2018 would be the fourth [19659002] WMO to release its own estimates for 2018 temperatures in the coming weeks, including data compiled by US, British and Japanese agencies

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