Why is the whole world experiencing its hottest summer yet? Explained.

The summer of 2023 has been the hottest to date. The whole world is witnessing record-breaking temperatures. As of now, July 4th is the hottest day on the planet in over 125,000 years, with the global temperature recording an average of 17.17o C or 62.92o Fahrenheit. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) is saying that this unprecedented rise in global temperatures can have “potentially devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment.” 

According to WMO, in the next five years, heat-trapping greenhouse gases and a naturally occurring El Niño event are anticipated to cause global temperatures to rise to even higher levels. The Secretary-General of WMO says, “A warming El Niño is expected to develop in the coming months and this will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory.”

“This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment. We need to be prepared,” he continued. The weather conditions are expected to further deteriorate and the extreme climate change is expected to extend to the coming years as well.

El Niño

El Niño occurs every few years and causes the Pacific Ocean to warm. It is a natural climate pattern that occurs when the trade winds weaken or reverse direction. This allows warm water from the western Pacific to move eastward, warming the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. The warming of the Pacific Ocean can cause changes in weather patterns around the world, including more extreme heat.

The 2016  summer saw a strong El Niño event, which contributed to extremely hot weather, and now 2023 is witnessing an even higher temperature that broke thousands of years of records. 

Related | El Nino vs El Nina

Climate Change

Another reason for the worrisome temperature rise is climate change. It is the long-term heating of Earth's climate system observed since the pre-industrial period between 1850 and 1900 due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere. 

It is more than often confused with another similar phenomenon, global warming; though the latter refers to the observed increase in global average temperatures and the effects it has on our planet. It is most commonly measured as the average increase in Earth's global surface temperature.

The WMO warns that in the coming years, the annual mean global near-surface temperature is expected to be between 1.1°C and 1.8°C higher than the 1850 and 1900 averages (pre-industrial era average). 

Arctic Warming

The Arctic is warming unusually. Several study reports cite that it is warming four times faster than the global average, resulting in the melting of ice sheets, which subsequently leads to a rise in sea levels. It is also directly influencing the weather conditions in the Americas and nearby regions, causing either extreme rainfall or heat waves.

The WMO warns that In the next five winters, the Arctic is expected to warm faster than the global average. This means that the Arctic will be much warmer than the rest of the world, which could have serious consequences for the region, including temperature anomalies and prolonged winters. 

The rapid warming of the Arctic is a major concern because it is causing a number of changes in the region, like shrinking sea ice, rising sea levels, and changes in weather patterns that can lead to more extreme weather events, such as heat waves, storms, and floods.

Related | What Is The Difference Between The Arctic And Antarctic?

What’s next? 

To combat the unprecedented climate change and increase in greenhouse gas emissions, an international treaty has been signed. The Paris Agreement, also known as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, was adopted by 196 parties on December 12, 2015, at the COP21 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, France. It is a legally binding treaty whose main objective is to pursue efforts "to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels" and keep "the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels." 

The rapid warming of the Earth’s temperature is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow the pace of warming and mitigate the effects of climate change. Otherwise, the consequences will be dire for the human race's survival.