NASA confirms last summer was the hottest on record

Last summer in the northern hemisphere was the hottest since world records began in 1880. An analysis by NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) scientists confirmed that June, July and August In summer they were on average 0.23°C warmer than any other summer.

The US space agency’s report coincides with a warning from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which last week reported that July and August had broken all records. These are the two months with the highest temperatures recorded so far..

“The record summer temperatures of 2023 are not just a bunch of numbers, they have dire real-world consequences,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “Extreme weather conditions threaten lives and livelihoods around the world… They pose a threat to our planet and future generations,” he stressed.

NASA compiles its temperature data, known as GISTEMP, from surface air temperature data from tens of thousands of weather stations. It also takes into account sea surface temperature thanks to instruments located on ships and buoys.

The final analysis calculates temperature anomalies rather than absolute temperature. NASA explained that it considers a temperature abnormal if it deviates from the average value recorded between 1951 and 1980. Last summer it was 1.2°C warmer than the baseline.

NASA says this summer is a sample of what will happen in 2024

NASA explained that the El Niño phenomenon was responsible for last summer’s records. Added to this are the effects of climate change caused by human activities and high sea surface temperatures. “The heat waves we are experiencing now are longer, hotter and more severe.”said Josh Willis, a climate scientist and oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Willis noted that the atmosphere can now hold more water. “And when it’s hot and humid, it’s even harder for the human body to regulate temperature,” he added. Another study published last week by the publication Washington Postsays that in 2050, more than half the world’s population will suffer at least one month of extreme heat.

Scientists hope that The greatest impact on El Niño temperatures will be felt in February, March and April of next year.. This natural phenomenon causes the weakening of the easterly trade winds and the movement of warm waters from the western Pacific Ocean to the west coast of America. This typically results in colder, wetter conditions in the southwestern United States and drought in western Pacific countries such as Indonesia and Australia.

A May analysis by the World Meteorological Organization predicted there was a 98% chance that at least one of the next five years would be the warmest on record. In fact, 2023—January to August—is the second warmest year.. In first place is 2016, when the powerful warming caused by El Niño occurred.

“Unfortunately, climate change is happening. “What we said would happen is happening,” said Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist and director of GISS. “And it will get worse if we continue to release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.”