Scientists from three different agencies have announced that 2016 was the hottest year ever recorded, setting an annual temperature record for the third year in a row.
It is now thought likely that 2016 was the warmest year since the end of the last ice age, more than 10,000 years ago. Indeed the current climate records are unlikely to have been equalled since the last interglacial, known as the Eemian, about 120,000 years ago. During this time, with temperatures equivalent to those of today, sea levels were between 6 and 9 meters (20-30 feet) higher. This suggests that over the long-term, multi-meter sea level rise is now inevitable, dooming small island nations and threatening coastal areas that are home to hundreds of millions of people.
Experts from NASA, NOAA and the UK Met Office were in agreement that last year’s recorded global average temperature was 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.98 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial baseline. The second and third-warmest years were 2015 and 2014, respectively.
This puts current global warming perilously close to the 1.5C target mentioned in the Paris agreement as a less dangerous alternative to the 2C existing international target to limit climate change. Although a strong El Nino event in the Pacific contributed to global warmth, scientists calculate its influence as limited to 0.2C.
Experts are in no doubt that the current record heat is a symptom of human-caused global warming.
Scientists from three different agencies have announced that 2016 was the hottest year ever recorded, setting an annual temperature record for the third year in a row. It is now thought likely that 2016 was the warmest year since the end of the last ice age, more than 10,000 years ago. Indeed the current climate records are unlikely to have been equalled since the last interglacial, known as the Eemian, about 120,000 years ago. During this time, with temperatures equivalent to those of today, sea levels were between 6 and 9 meters (20-30 feet) higher. This suggests that over the long-term, multi-meter sea level rise is now inevitable, dooming small island nations and threatening coastal areas that are home to hundreds of millions of people. Experts from NASA, NOAA and the UK Met Office were in agreement that last year’s recorded global average temperature was 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.98 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial baseline. The second and third-warmest years were 2015 and 2014, respectively. This puts current global warming perilously close to the 1.5C target mentioned in the Paris agreement as a less dangerous alternative to the 2C existing international target to limit climate change. Although a strong El Nino event in the Pacific contributed to global warmth, scientists calculate its influence as limited to 0.2C. Experts are in no doubt that the current record heat is a symptom of human-caused global warming.
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