World records hottest ever day for fourth time in a row this week
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We haven't found a solution for climate change yet, but we're definitely getting warmer.
Global warming is the realest it's ever been as the record for the world's hottest day has been broken for the fourth day in a row.
On Wednesday (5 July) the earth's average temperature remained at an unofficial record high, which was set the day before.
That record was broken on Thursday (6 July).
The grim reality of climate change has been highlighted by the University of Maine who have used a unique tool to calculate their findings.
Their 'Climate Reanalyzer' basically uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world’s condition.
Scientists have warned for months that 2023 could see record heat as human-caused climate change, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil, warmed the atmosphere.
While the figures are not an official government record, 'this is showing us an indication of where we are right now,' said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Sarah Kapnick.
So earlier this week, the average global temperature peaked at 17.23C on Thursday.
Wednesday's weather matched a record set on Tuesday of 17.18C and came after a previous record of 17.01C was set on Monday.
Even though the dataset used for the unofficial record goes back only to 1979, Ms Kapnick said that given other data, the world is probably seeing the hottest day in 'several hundred years that we’ve experienced'.
Scientists generally use much longer measurements - months, years, decades - to track the Earth’s warming.
But the daily highs are an indication that climate change is reaching uncharted territory.
With many places seeing temperatures near 37.8C, the average temperature records might not seem very hot.
However, Tuesday’s global high was nearly 1.8F higher than the 1979-2000 average, which already tops the 20th and 19th century averages.
“A record like this is another piece of evidence for the now massively supported proposition that global warming is pushing us into a hotter future,” said Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field, who was not part of the University of Maine's calculations.
“Temperatures have been unusual over the ocean and especially around the Antarctic this week, because wind fronts over the Southern Ocean are strong pushing warm air deeper south,” said Raghu Murtugudde, professor of atmospheric, oceanic and earth system science at the University of Maryland and visiting faculty at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
Chari Vijayaraghavan, a polar explorer and educator, who has visited the Arctic and Antarctic regularly for the past ten years, warned: “Warming climates might lead to increasing risks of diseases such as the avian flu spreading in the Antarctic that will have devastating consequences for penguins and other fauna in the region.”
Featured Image Credit: Pixabay /Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
Topics: Environment, Global Warming, Weather, UK News, World News
