Nearly quarter of world’s population had record hot year in 2021, data shows

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/13/hot-year-temperatures-climate-crisis-2021

 

Oliver Milman
@olliemilman
Thu 13 Jan 2022 12.15 EST

 

Nearly a quarter of the world’s population experienced a record hot year in 2021, as the climate crisis continues to unleash escalating temperatures around the globe, according to new data from leading US climate scientists.

Last year was the sixth hottest ever recorded, with the global temperature 1.1C [2F] above the pre-industrial average, a new annual analysis from Nasa and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) found.

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 There were record-high temperatures in parts of northern Africa, south Asia and parts of South America last year, Arctic sea ice continued its decline and the oceans recorded yet another record year for heat content. “The oceans are storing a heck of a lot of heat,” said Russell Vose, a senior climate scientist at Noaa. “If it weren’t for the large heat storage capacity of the oceans, the atmosphere would’ve warmed a lot more rapidly.”

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“It’s clear that each of the past four decades has been warmer than the one preceding it,” he added. “It’s certainly warmer now than at any time in the past 2,000 years, and probably longer.”

Earlier this week, the European climate agency Copernicus said 2021 was the fifth hottest year on record, with the last seven years the hottest ever documented. A slight edge was taken off last year’s temperatures by a La Niña, a periodic climatic event that cools the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

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