Climate Records Tumble Leaving Earth in Uncharted Territory Scientists
- Published 22nd July 2023
By Georgina Rannard, Erwan Rivault, Jana Tauschinski
BBC Climate reporter & Data Team
A series of climate records on temperature, ocean heat, and Antarctic sea ice have alarmed some scientists who say their speed and timing is “unprecedented”.
Dangerous heatwaves sweeping Europe could break further records, according to the UN.
It is hard to immediately link these events to climate change because weather – and the Earth’s oceans – are so complex.
Studies are underway, but scientists already fear some worst-case scenarios are unfolding.
“I’m not aware of a similar period when all parts of the climate system were in record-breaking or abnormal territory,” Thomas Smith, an environmental geographer at London School of Economics, says.
“The Earth is in uncharted territory” now due to global warming from burning fossil fuels, as well as heat from the first El Niño – a warming natural weather system – since 2018, says Imperial College London climate science lecturer Dr Paulo Ceppi.
Here are four climate records broken so far this summer – and what they mean.
World’s hottest day on record
The world experienced its hottest day ever recorded in July, breaking the global average temperature record set in 2016.
Average global temperature topped 17C for the first time, reaching 17.08C on 6 July, according to EU climate monitoring service Copernicus.
Ongoing emissions from burning fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas are behind the planet’s warming trend.
This is exactly what was forecast to happen in a world warmed by more greenhouse gases, says climate scientist Dr Friederike Otto, from Imperial College London.
“Humans are 100% behind the upward trend,” she says.
“If I’m surprised by anything, it’s that we’re seeing the records broken in June, so earlier in the year. El Niño normally doesn’t really have a global impact until five or six months into the phase,” Dr Smith says.
El Niño is the world’s most powerful naturally occurring climate fluctuation. It brings warmer water to the surface in the tropical Pacific, pushing warmer air into the atmosphere. It normally increases global air temperatures.
Despite what man has and is doing to the Earth, the Earth will not be destroyed because God is in Ultimate Control and He has a purpose yet to be established on this Earth. God will not allow man to destroy the earth.
God’s Kingdom will be established on this Earth in perfect fulfilment of Bible Prophecy just as the days in which we are living with all their problems is fulfilling Bible Prophecy. The real question is: WILL YOU BE IN GOD’S KINGDOM or will you be a casualty of these end times.
