Science & Technology

This year's global warming is off the charts

By T.K. Randall
July 27, 2016 ·  58 comments

The world is warming up and we aren't doing enough to stop it. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 Chris Lim It has long been established that the world is getting hotter and that this is unlikely to change anytime soon, but what is perhaps not as well recognized is the extent to which this is happening.

The first six months of 2016 have brought with them an average global temperature 1.3 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average - a figure suggesting that scientists may have seriously underestimated just how hot the world is going to get in the not-too-distant future.

"What concerns me most is that we didn't anticipate these temperature jumps," said Dr David Carlson, director of the World Climate Research Programme."We predicted moderate warmth for 2016, but nothing like the temperature rises we've seen. Massive temperature hikes, but also extreme events like floodings, have become the new normal."

Some countries have at least made some effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions however it remains unclear whether or not this is ultimately going to be enough.

"The world leaders making serious commitments to tackle climate change are currently few and far between," said Dr Carlson.

"The question is shifting from ‘has the climate changed?' to ‘by how much ?'"

Source: Independent | Comments (58)

Tags: Climate Change, Global Warming