{"id":136278,"date":"2024-12-12T18:56:08","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T11:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136278"},"modified":"2024-12-12T18:56:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T11:56:08","slug":"this-was-not-normal-us-scientists-grapple-with-a-year-of-record-heat-extreme-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136278","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This was not normal\u2019: US scientists grapple with a year of record heat | Extreme heat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Scientists are still puzzling over the reasons behind a streak of unexpected, record heat that scorched 2023 and into this year, sparking fears that the climate crisis could be moving faster than previously thought.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Is it the clouds? Or shipping? Or maybe a huge volcanic eruption?<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">A parade of climate researchers presented potential reasons for the apparent surge in global heating at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) <a href=\"https:\/\/agu.confex.com\/agu\/agu24\/meetingapp.cgi\/Session\/233589\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">meeting<\/a> in Washington on Tuesday, although none were able to claim a full understanding of what has happened with the world\u2019s climate since the start of last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cWe weren\u2019t expecting 2023 to be so exceptional,\u201d acknowledged Robert Rohde, a climate scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, who said last year\u2019s temperatures, 0.2C <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/jan\/12\/2023-hottest-year-record-us-scientists\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">above the previous annual global record<\/a>, were in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2023\/oct\/05\/gobsmackingly-bananas-scientists-stunned-by-planets-record-september-heat\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">words of a colleague \u201cgobsmackingly bananas\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Humans are causing the world to warm up by the burning of fossil fuels and last year was also influenced by an El Ni\u00f1o event, a naturally reoccurring climate phenomena that typically pushes up global temperatures. \u201cBut this was not normal,\u201d said Rohde. \u201cGlobal warming and El Ni\u00f1o are the biggest factors but something else was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cMaybe it\u2019s clouds,\u201d Rohde said, referencing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.adq7280\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">new research that found<\/a> there was record low cloud cover last year, which reduced the amount of reflective surface that would deflect the sun\u2019s energy back out of the atmosphere. \u201cThere was extra warmth because Earth was absorbing extra energy because of a deficit of clouds,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that just moves the question to \u2018why there weren\u2019t as many clouds?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Another potential explanation could be found in measures to cut the amount of air pollution emitted by ships, which came into effect in 2020. While the rules greatly cut this type of pollution, by as much as 90% <a href=\"https:\/\/esd.copernicus.org\/articles\/15\/1527\/2024\/esd-15-1527-2024.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">according to another new paper<\/a>, it thereby reduced the amount of sulfate aerosols being put into the atmosphere that block incoming solar radiation and help cool the planet slightly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">A further contributing factor might be the eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano, located in the south Pacific, in 2022. Rohde said the event spewed 150m tons of water vapor into the atmosphere, helping trap more heat close to Earth\u2019s surface into 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Among other pondered factors, discussed in front of an audience of several hundred other researchers, was a reduction in the amount of dust whipping off the Sahara desert, which again would normally act as a solar blocking agent. \u201cAlso there could be some sort of climate change feedback we don\u2019t understand,\u201d said Rohde. \u201cIt\u2019s a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The elevated heat has continued throughout much of 2024, with scientists still waiting to see if the unexpected warming will die down. This year is certain to be the hottest on record, the first that will be 1.5C above the pre-industrial era and a signal that the longer-term international effort to keep the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/nov\/18\/climate-crisis-world-temperature-target\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">temperature rise below this level is probably doomed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">This level of global heating is already fueling dangerous heatwaves, floods and other disasters and scientists say more research is needed to grasp whether the climate system is heating up at an ominous rate beyond previous expectations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cThere is something to explain, there is still work to do,\u201d said Gavin Schmidt, a Nasa climate scientist who co-chaired the session and asked attendees to raise their hands if they thought the heat anomalies had been fully explained. Only a few out of several hundred did so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/dec\/12\/record-heat-climate-crisis\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists are still puzzling over the reasons behind a streak of unexpected, record heat that scorched 2023 and into this year, sparking fears that the climate crisis could be moving &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136278\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=136278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=136278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=136278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=136278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}