This summer has smashed heat records worldwide.
July was Earth’s hottest month ever recorded, following the hottest June on record. On July 6, the average global temperature reached a new peak at 17.23° Celsius (63.01° Fahrenheit). (If that number doesn’t sound scorching, remember that it doesn’t just account for the Northern Hemisphere’s current summer temps. It also accounts for temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere, which is currently in winter.)
Scientists are still teasing out all the factors that have led to this summer’s historic heat. But one thing is certain: human-caused climate change takes a lot of the blame.
Toasty oceans
Much of this summer’s brutal heat can probably be traced back to Earth’s oceans, experts say. Oceans worldwide have been warming for decades, largely due to humans pumping climate-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In April, the average sea surface temperature around the world hit a new record of 21.1° C (70° F). Now that Earth’s oceans are so balmy, they can’t absorb as much heat from the atmosphere. This leaves more heat in the air, leading to warmer summer weather.
El Niño may be worsening that problem this year. El Niño is part of a natural climate cycle that temporarily warms the planet every several years. It happens when westward winds over the Pacific Ocean are especially weak. That allows warm water to pile up in the eastern Pacific, burying cold deep-sea water that would otherwise well up. As a result, a blanket of warm water covers much of the tropical Pacific and leaks heat into the atmosphere.
This may have helped turn up the heat on summer 2023. But Earth’s new phase of El Niño only began in June and won’t peak for months. So it’s too early to say how much El Niño has added to recent sweltering weather, researchers say.
Heat waves
On top of Earth being generally warmer than before, devastating heat waves have recently roasted many places around…
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