In continuing trend, 2021 is tied for sixth warmest year on record in modern times
Continuing Earth’s long-term warming trend, NASA scientists Goddard Institute for Space Studies In New York, 2021 is tied with 2018 as the sixth-warmest year on modern records. Overall, the data show that the past eight years have been the warmest since modern records began in 1880. Earth in 2021 will be about 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1.1 degrees Celsius) warmer than the average temperature of the late 19th century. Global temperatures in 2021 will be 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.85 degrees Celsius) above the average from 1951 to 1980, NASA said, suggesting that the warming trend has accelerated in recent decades.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Japan Meteorological Agency, the European Copernicus Climate Change Service and Berkeley Earth have slightly different but similar measurements for 2021.
“The complexity of the various analyses doesn’t matter because the signal is very strong,” says Gavin SchmidtDirector of Goddard, affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “The trends are all the same because the trends are so big.”
Scientists agree that global warming is caused by human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Earth is already seeing the effects of global warming: Arctic sea ice is declining, sea ​​level is rising, Wildfires are getting worse and Animal migration patterns are shifting.
While 2021 isn’t yet the warmest year on Earth, it’s getting close. High temperature records in many different regions were substantially surpassed. Last year, parts of the United States and Canada experienced an unprecedented heatwave. According to Berkeley Earth, some 1.8 billion people in 25 Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries experienced the warmest year on record, including China, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Iran, Myanmar and South Korea. The deep ocean, which absorbs most of the planet’s rising heat, also set a warm record in 2021, according to another new study.
Weather stations, ships and ocean buoys around the globe record the temperature of the Earth’s surface throughout the year. These ground-based surface temperature measurements have been validated with satellite data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Scientists analyze these measurements using computer algorithms to deal with uncertainties in the data to calculate the annual global average surface temperature difference. The 1951-1980 baseline includes climate patterns and unusually hot or cold years due to other factors, ensuring that it includes natural variations in Earth’s temperature.
Many factors affect the average temperature in any given year, including La Niña and El Niño climate patterns in the tropical Pacific. For example, 2021 is a La Niña year; NASA scientists estimate that it may have lowered global temperatures by about 0.06 degrees Fahrenheit (0.03 degrees Celsius) below average.
Another independent analysis by NOAA also concluded that global surface temperatures in 2021 will be the sixth warmest since records began in 1880. NOAA scientists used much of the same raw data, although their baseline periods (1901-2000) and methodology were different.
“Science leaves no doubt: Climate change is an existential threat of our time,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Eight of the 10 hottest years on Earth occurred in the past decade is an indisputable fact that underscores the need for bold action to protect the future of our nation and all of humanity.”
NASA’s A complete dataset of global surface temperatures The 2021 data and details of how NASA scientists will conduct the analysis are publicly available.
Adapted from a NASA press release, with additional information provided by The Associated Press.
