Data: NOAA CFS/CFSR via Climate Reanalyzer, University of Maine; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios
By the end of the week, it's likely that 15 days just this month have breached an unprecedented global temperature threshold, Axios extreme-weather expert Andrew Freedman writes.
Zoom out: All this is occurring as human-caused emissions of greenhouse gas continue to increase, despite the existence of ever-cheaper technologies to generate electricity.
What's happening: Already this month, 14 days have recorded surface air temperatures greater than 17°C (62.6°F) — spikes that have not been seen for roughly 125,000 years.
- Wednesday marked the 17th straight day with global temperatures hotter than any prior days on record.
Several more records are all but certain to fall in coming weeks:
- July will be the hottest month on Earth since instrument records began in the 19th century.
- We're on track for the world's hottest summer ever.
By the numbers: The overnight minimum temperature yesterday morning in Phoenix was a sweltering 97°F, an all-time high. Tomorrow, the city is forecast to have its record 20th straight day with a high of 110°F or greater.
- Austin has had 10 straight days with highs of 105°F or greater, an unprecedented streak.
Threat level: A study in the journal Nature Medicine found severe heat waves in Europe last summer killed as many as 61,000 people.
Former NASA climate scientist James Hansen, who rose to prominence by warning the Senate and the American people about the dangers of climate change in the sizzling American summer of 1988, told The Guardian: "We are headed wittingly into the new reality — we knew it was coming." |
