OMG! Hottest temperature on record for each State (WV @ 112, Death Valley @ 134 in CA)
From an Article by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, July 3, 2023
“Not a milestone we should be celebrating,” said one climate scientist. “It’s a death sentence for people and ecosystems.” Data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction shows that the average global temperature reached 17.01°C, or 62.62°F, on Monday — making it the hottest day ever recorded.
That record lasted just 24 hours. On Tuesday, the global average temperature peaked at a new all-time high of 17.18°C as regions worldwide — from Asia to Africa to the U.S. South — reeled from dangerous heatwaves.
As Bloomberg reported, “The heat this summer has already put millions of people around the world at risk.”
“China is experiencing a scorching new heat wave less than two weeks after temperatures broke records in Beijing,” the outlet noted. “Extreme heat in India last month has been linked to deaths in some of its poorest regions. Last week saw a dangerous heat dome cover Texas and northern Mexico, while the U.K. baked in its hottest June on record.”
Earth’s hottest day came after the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) declared the onset of El Niño conditions, which are marked by warming surface waters in the Pacific.
“The onset of El Niño will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement Tuesday. “The declaration of an El Niño by WMO is the signal to governments around the world to mobilize preparations to limit the impacts on our health, our ecosystems, and our economies.”
“Early warnings and anticipatory action of extreme weather events associated with this major climate phenomenon are vital to save lives and livelihoods,” he added.
Record temperatures and intensifying extreme weather, including an unprecedented wildfire season in Canada, come as world leaders are facing urgent calls to rein in fossil fuels—the primary driver of the global climate emergency—at the upcoming COP28 climate conference in the United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s top oil producers.
“People around the world are already enduring climate impacts, from heatwaves, wildfires, and air pollution to floods and extreme storms,” Jeni Miller, executive director of the California-based Global Climate and Health Alliance, toldThe Guardian on Tuesday. “Global warming is also exacerbating crop losses and the spread of infectious diseases, as well as migration.”
“Governments must prepare to deliver a commitment at COP28 to phase out all fossil fuels, and a just transition to renewable energy for all,” Miller said.
Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Britain’s Imperial College London, told Reuters that the hottest global temperature ever recorded is “not a milestone we should be celebrating.”
“This is a death sentence for people and ecosystems,” Otto added.
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See Also: “Millions swelter under extreme heat as climate crisis tightens grip on US – as it happened ~ Heat dome of high pressure hovers over Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma as thousands remain without power in Chicago with heavy rains knocking down trees and power lines,” From the Daily News reports of The Guardian, July 3, 2023
Summary of the day ~ Here’s a recap of recent developments:
§ ~ Millions across the US have been caught up in dangerous weather conditions over the weekend and are braced for further extreme conditions ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, as thunderstorms and intense heat continue to affect much of the country.
§ ~ As of Monday, 36 million people are under excessive heat warnings in the US, particularly in the south and western regions. Record high temperatures in some places will likely remain as many gear up to celebrate the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday. A large swath of the US, from northern California through Washington state, will bake under intense heat for multiple days this week.
§ ~ Many midwest cities are also dealing with the aftermath of severe rain and flooding. Weekend thunderstorms in Chicago flooded streets and highways, as nearly nine inches of rain fell in some areas of the city in just a few hours.
§ ~ Many in the midwest are still without power after the weekend storms. A 33-year-old woman died in her parked car in St Louis when a tree fell on the vehicle, and a five-year-old boy was killed in his bedroom when a tree fell on his house in Jennings, Missouri, in St Louis county.
§ ~ More wildfire smoke is expected to return to the northern states of the US, less than a week after smoke from Canadian wildfires resulted in hazy skies and dangerous air quality across the US midwest and north-east.
§ ~ A woman has died due to heat-related issues while on a hike at Grand Canyon national park, according to authorities. The hiker, identified as a 57-year-old woman, was attempting an eight-mile hike when she fell unconscious, a park release said. Park officials said the high temperature at Tuweep was well over 100F (37C) degrees on Sunday.
§ ~ The target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5C (2.7F) is moving out of reach, climate experts have warned, with countries failing to set more ambitious goals despite months of record-breaking heat on land and sea.
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El Niño Has Arrived and Could Bring Record Temperatures and Dangerous Conditions, UN Warns
From Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch, Raleigh NC, July 5, 2023
For the first time since 2016, El Niño conditions are brewing in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which means the world is likely in store for rising temperatures and an increase in extreme weather, the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported in a press release.
The last major El Niño event was the hottest year ever recorded.
The WMO says there is a 90 percent likelihood that El Niño will continue to the end of this year at at least moderate strength.
“The onset of El Niño will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas in the press release. “The declaration of an El Niño by WMO is the signal to governments around the world to mobilize preparations to limit the impacts on our health, our ecosystems and our economies. Early warnings and anticipatory action of extreme weather events associated with this major climate phenomenon are vital to save lives and livelihoods.”
The El Niño climate pattern is a natural occurrence that goes along with the warming of ocean surface temperatures in the central-eastern tropical Pacific. The duration of El Niño events is usually nine to 12 months, at average intervals of two to seven years.
The WMO has previously called the pairing of El Niño with the human-induced global heating caused by the burning of fossil fuels a “double whammy.”
The United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO) has said it is prepositioning stocks to help countries prepare for El Niño’s impacts, reported AFP.
“In many of the countries that will be most affected by El Niño, there are already ongoing crises,” said Maria Neira, director for Environment, Climate Change and Health at WHO, according to AFP.
Neira said increased food insecurity and malnutrition, in addition to wildfires, extreme heat and likely surges in cholera and infectious and mosquito-borne diseases like measles and malaria, were concerning.
“We can reasonably expect even an increase in infectious diseases because of the temperature,” Neira said, as Reuters reported.
In May, a report from the WMO forecast a 98 percent chance that the next five years as a whole, as well as at least one of those years, will be the warmest ever recorded, the press release said.
“To tell you whether it will be this year or next year is difficult,” said Wilfran Moufouma Okia, head of Regional Climate Prediction Service at WMO, as reported by Reuters.
The WMO report said also that, between 2023 and 2027, there is a 66 percent chance that the yearly average near-surface temperature for the planet will be higher than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) average for a minimum of one year.
“This is not to say that in the next five years we would exceed the 1.5°C level specified in the Paris Agreement because that agreement refers to long-term warming over many years. However, it is yet another wake up call, or an early warning, that we are not yet going in the right direction to limit the warming to within the targets set in Paris in 2015 designed to substantially reduce the impacts of climate change,” said WMO Director of Climate Services Prof. Chris Hewitt in the press release.
El Niño’s effects aren’t usually apparent until the year following its development, which means it will likely be felt most strongly in 2024.
In 2022, the average temperature globally was lower due to the cooling effects of a “triple-dip” (lasting three straight winters) La Niña, at about 1.15 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.
El Niño can cause increased rainfall in the southern United States, South America, central Asia and the Horn of Africa, while bringing severe drought conditions to parts of southern Asia, Indonesia, Australia, the northern portion of South America and Central America.
Its warm waters can also add fuel to hurricanes in the Pacific while dampening the formation of hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin.
The WMO now issues not only the El Niño-Southern Oscillation Update, but also gives regular Global Seasonal Climate Updates, which take into consideration how additional main climate drivers like the Arctic Oscillation, the Indian Ocean Dipole and the North Atlantic Oscillation affect the planet’s climate system.
“As warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures are generally predicted over oceanic regions, they contribute to widespread prediction of above-normal temperatures over land areas. Without exception, positive temperature anomalies are expected over all land areas in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere,” the most recent update for July, August and September of this year said, according to the press release.
SOURCE: https://www.ecowatch.com/el-nino-2023-effects.html