The Earth’s surface experienced the three hottest days on record this week. Since spring, the oceans have continually reached new temperature peaks. And at the beginning of winter in Australia, the ice around Antarctica freezes a bit abnormally. Here is the inventory in charts and charts.
The planet’s average temperature rose to 17.18°C on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is a record high since the beginning of satellite measurements in 1979. On Monday, the planet’s average mercury rose to 17.01 degrees Celsius, which was then a new peak. The previous daily record dates back to last summer, when the 16.92°C mark was reached.
Officially, the Earth is thus experiencing the hottest day in 44 years. However, these temperatures were probably unheard of for tens of thousands of years.
To know the temperature before the nineteenthH Century, scientists have to rely on tree rings and ice samples. “This data tells us that Earth It hasn’t been this hot for at least 125,000 yearsduring the last glacial period,” he explained this week to Washington Post Climate scientist Paolo Seppi of the Grantham Institute in London.
This map represents the Earth’s temperature on Wednesday, July 5th. The values were determined using meteorological instruments from ground stations, weather balloons and satellites. The collected data is then combined using a US government climate model.
The record temperatures that are currently being observed are the result of global warming, which continues to worsen with the continuation of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the result of the El Niño phenomenon, which is returning with force this year.
During El Niño episodes, which is a natural and recurring phenomenon, the deep waters of the oceans absorb less heat than the atmosphere. So the air temperature rises by a few parts of a degree Celsius.
This map represents the temperature anomaly on Wednesday, July 5th. This is the difference relative to the average calculated from 1979 to 2000 for the same day of the year.
Abnormally high temperatures have been measured in Antarctica (where it is winter in Australia) and in Russia, but also in Quebec. Kuujjuaq was the hottest place in Canada on Tuesday. Mercury there reached 34.1 degrees Celsius. This is an absolute new record for this small town in northern Quebec.
The European climate agency Copernicus was published Thursday Report for the month of June. “Most of Canada saw above-average temperatures, with northern Ontario and northern Quebec hardest hit,” she notes. This weather has created conditions for the wildfires we know of, the most destructive in at least 100 years.
Oceans are not spared. Since spring, its average surface temperature has reached new records day by day, for the period for which we have satellite recordings, that is, since 1981. According to the British Met Service (Met Office), the months of April and May were the warmest for the oceans Since at least 1850. Global warming and El Niño are to blame, but also some natural fluctuations.
The heat is particularly intense in the North Atlantic Ocean. Albert Klein Tank, director of the Met Office’s Hadley Center, said in a statement that weaker winds, which carried less dust from the Sahara over the ocean, may be to blame. “usually, [cette poussière] It helps cool the area by blocking and reflecting some of the sun’s energy.
As the oceans warm, many species of fish find themselves unsuitable for their current habitat. Hot water harms the metabolism and reduces the presence of oxygen in the water. In addition, the warming of surface waters discourages eutrophication. Other organisms, such as coral reefs, suffer greatly from marine heat waves, which are becoming more frequent, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Sea ice around Antarctica is also reaching woeful records. Sea ice – which floats on water, not that which rests on land – grows at an unusually slow rate at the start of winter in Australia. And it covers 10% less area than it did at the same time last year. The 2022 season marks the lowest since 1978.
The current situation may be exacerbated Interactions with the atmosphere and oceansZak Labe, a climatologist from Princeton University, explained: USA Today. For example, winds from storms and warm waters from the Southern Ocean can reduce sea ice formation, and in the background, global atmospheric warming increases pressure.
