https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/12/climate-crisis-heat-trapping-gases-broke-records-2018-report
[links in online article]
Heat-trapping gases broke records in 2018, climate crisis report finds
Report finds 2018 was the fourth-warmest on record since the
mid-to-late- 1800s and sea levels were the highest on record
Emily Holden in Washington
Mon 12 Aug 2019
The gases heating the planet in 2018 were higher than humans have ever
recorded, according to an authoritative new report from the American
Meteorological Society and the US government.
Greenhouse gas levels topped 60 years of modern measurements and 800,000
years of ice core data, the study found. The data used in the 325-page
report is collected from more than 470 scientists in 60 countries.
The global annual average for carbon dioxide – which is elevated because
of human activities like driving cars and burning fuel – was 407.4 parts
per million, 2.4 ppm higher than in 2017.
The report finds 2018 was the fourth-warmest on record since the
mid-to-late- 1800s. Temperatures were .3C to .4C higher than the average
between 1981 and 2010.
Sea levels were the highest on record, as global heating melted
land-based ice and expanded the oceans. Sea surface temperatures were
also near a record high.
As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put it, the
report “found that the major indicators of climate change continued to
reflect trends consistent with a warming planet”.
Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extent was near a record low, and glaciers
continued to melt and lose mass for the 30th year in a row.
Despite recent massive wildfires in the US and the Arctic, 2018 fire
activity around the globe was actually the lowest on record. That is
because humans have turned the savannas that have burned frequently into
agricultural areas.
Mexico reported its third warmest year in its 48-year record, and Alaska
reported its second warmest in its 94-year record. There were 14 weather
and climate events in the US that each caused over $1bn in damage – the
fourth highest since records began in 1980.
The Caribbean saw coral reef bleaching and South America experienced
seven extreme snowfall events. Europe was a hotspot, with its second
warmest year since at least 1950. And Australia had its third warmest
year since 1910, with a rapidly intensifying and expanding drought and
significant fires.
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