“No one is safe” after the hottest 12 months ever recorded on Earth

The last 12 months were the hottest ever recorded in the Landaccording to a report by Climate Central, a nonprofit scientific research group.

The peer-reviewed report says the burning of gasoline, coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels that release planet-warming gases such as carbon dioxide, and other human activities caused the unnatural warming from November 2022 to October 2023. .

Throughout the year, 7.3 billion people, or 90% of humanity, endured at least 10 days of high temperatures made at least three times more likely due to climate change.

“People know things are weird, but they don’t necessarily know why they’re weird. “They are not related to the fact that we are still burning coal, oil and natural gas.”said Andrew Pershing, climate scientist at Climate Central.

“I think what really came to light from this year’s data was that no one is safe. “Everyone experienced unusual weather-induced heat at some point during the year,” Pershing added.

The average global temperature was 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) higher than the pre-industrial climate, which scientists say is close to the limit that countries agreed not to exceed in the Paris Agreement: a 1.5 C rise. (2.7F). The impacts were evident: one in four human beings, or 1.9 billion people, suffered dangerous heat waves.

At this point, said Jason Smerdon, a climate scientist at Columbia University, no one should be taken by surprise.. “It’s like being on an escalator and being surprised that you’re going up.”said. “We know things are getting hotter, this has been predicted for decades.”

Source: AP