"Some indicators, including “super-marine heatwaves,” may suggest a major shift in the global climate system."
"Last year was already one for the climate record books, but a new report from the American Meteorological Society is adding to that already substantial list.
In 2023, Earth’s layers of heat-reflecting clouds dwindled to the lowest extent ever measured. About 94 percent of all ocean surfaces experienced a marine heatwave during that year. And, last July, a record-high 7.9 percent of land areas experienced severe drought, the report shows.
The root cause of the feverish symptoms is the continued buildup of heat-trapping pollution from burning fossil fuels, the report states, detailing the record-high concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide last year.
The State of the Climate in 2023 was published Wednesday as a supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. It was compiled by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information with contributions from scientists around the world, and includes extensive analysis of global climate conditions in a record-hot year that drove dangerous extremes around the planet."
Bob Berwyn reports for Inside Climate News August 22, 2024.
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