MIAMI — There is almost a 50% chance that 2023 will be the year warmest on record and 2024 could be even hotter, US government climate experts said Monday.
“To date, 2023 is the third warmest year on record,” Sarah Kapnick, chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told reporters. (NOAA, for its acronym in English).
“It is virtually certain – greater than 99% probability – that 2023 will be one of the five warmest years on record, with a nearly 50% probability that 2023 will be the warmest ever,” Kapnick said.
Gavin Schmidt, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at POT, He said 2024 may be even hotter than this year due to the Pacific warming phenomenon known as El Niño.
“The biggest El Niño impact will actually be in 2024,” Schmidt said. “We predict that not only will 2023 be exceptionally warm and possibly a record year, but 2024 will be even warmer,” she estimated.
The European Union’s Copernicus climate observatory reported last week that July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, and Monday’s NOAA figures match European data.
“The average land surface temperature in July was 2.02 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above average, making it the warmest July in 174 years of record,” NOAA said. .
The entity also reported that ocean surface temperatures reached a record in July for the fourth consecutive month as El Niño conditions emerged in June.
Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate advisor, said that “climate change is having an impact on people and ecosystems around the world.”
“In addition to temperature changes, we experience other changes, such as rising sea levels, declining Arctic sea ice, wildfires, heavy precipitation, etc,” Calvin said.
FOUNTAIN: With information from AFP
