According to a report issued by NASA, July 2023 was the warmest on record. Furthermore, the whole year so far has been the warmest ever recorded, and it is predicted that temperatures are set to rise in 2024.
Releasing their calculations NASA states that July was 0.24ºC warmer than any other month since records began and 1.18ºC warmer than any July between 1951 and 1980, with the five warmest Julys since 1880 in the last five years.
The European Earth Observation Service, Copernicus, also predicted that July would be the hottest on record due to an increase in temperatures caused by heatwaves in North America, Asia, and Europe.
El Niño has undoubtedly affected the weather this year. Worryingly many believe that the potential effects have not yet been felt and that weather patterns could become considerably worse by the end of the year.
Ocean Surface temperatures are of particular concern to scientists as waters are reaching a record high for the fourth month in a row. “More than 40 percent of the oceans are experiencing a marine heatwave,” said Sarah Kapnick, warning of the potentially disastrous consequences for marine species, especially corals.
Additionally, NASA administrator Bill Nelson stated, “Mother Nature is sending us a message: We better act now, before it’s too late, to save the climate and the planet.”
Not only are our oceans becoming warmer, but warm oceans create more water in the atmosphere that can contribute to massive snowstorms in winter, therefore, translating global warming into heatwaves, forest fires, and catastrophic rainfall and flooding
Moreover, weather fronts are moving north with climate change. Hawaii’s rainfall has diminished over several decades and there are long-term effects starting to emerge, such as the fires that devastated the island of Maui.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
