|
THE CLIMATE POST By TIM PROFETA [theclimatepost @duke.edu]
<br />It's Official: 2014 Hottest Year on Record
<br />Four independent global data sets registered 2014 as the warmest year on record, the Weather Channel
<br />reported, citing an annual review by international scientists sponsored by the National Oceanic and
<br />Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and published in the Buulk,,6n of thy., Amy 6 a�n Me, . Oa)lkpgica1
<br />The only major region of the world with below - average annual temperatures was Eastern North
<br />America.
<br />The review compiled by NOAA's Center for Weather and Climate and based on contributions of more
<br />than 400 scientists found that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached a global average of 397.2 parts
<br />per million, a 1.9 -ppm- increase in 2014; the global average was 354 ppm in 1990, the review's first year.
<br />Other lxi gh1i�.1y s of the State of the Climate in 2014 report include
<br />• Record highs for sea surface temperatures, particularly in the North Pacific Ocean, as well as
<br />for global upper ocean heat (oceans absorb more than 90 percent of Earth's excess heat), and
<br />global sea levels (oceans expand as they suck up heat);
<br />• Continued Arctic warming and low sea ice extent;
<br />• Highly variable temperature patterns and record -high sea ice extent in the Antarctic; and
<br />• An above - average number of tropical cyclones.
<br />Human activities are implicated in the record high. Deke Arndt, a NOAA climate scientist and one of the
<br />report authors pointed out that 11 s..o c.,Q.'t1 l ;e il..c e„ that it's the lower atmosphere, rather than the upper
<br />atmosphere, that's warming.
<br />"The changes that we see in the lower part of the atmosphere are driven by a change in the composition of
<br />the atmosphere," Arndt said. "If an external forcing —such as the sun or some orbital phenomenon —
<br />would be driving the warming, we would see a warming across the board in most of the atmosphere. And
<br />we don't."
<br />Now it appears that 2015,,,,is will, on ias „w ; acp acpl g 201�9,;,,,,a s �the,,,,wa wannest on ��. °,c(,n j,. A strengthening El
<br />Nino is transferring heat from the tropical Pacific around the globe, and the National Aeronautical and
<br />Space Administration (NASA) and the Japan Meteorological Agency have reported that the global
<br />warmth of June 2015 matched or exceeded any previous June in lr,iss.(,ni ;a;�;l,,,a;;c: °,�;;;,c�a;;ds.
<br />Study: 2- Degree Target Unsafe
<br />(,,w „_b�. °,s,ea�n;;�;;h says keeping within 2 degrees Celsius of pre - industrial temperatures —the target scientists
<br />and global leaders agree represents a safe level of climate change —may be inadequate and "highly
<br />Meeting the target, d.lrc ° s[.u;dy ,a;;�, could lead to runaway ice melt that causes rising sea levels
<br />and ocean circulation changes far more serious than previous projections.
<br />"We conclude that continued high emissions will make multi -meter sea level rise practically unavoidable
<br />and likely to occur this century,” James Hansen — NASA's former lead climate scientist and 16 other co-
<br />authors w;ai;t;;c °,,,, a�,,,,;dlr,c: °,,,,arc °,w,. not - yet -peer- reviewed discussion paper due to be published in the journal
<br />Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. "Social disruption and economic consequences of such large sea
<br />level rise could be devastating. It is not difficult to imagine that conflicts arising from forced migrations
<br />and economic collapse might make the planet ungovernable, threatening the fabric of civilization.”
<br />
|