The first week of July was the hottest on record for the planet, according to the World Meteorological Organization, after a series of days that saw global temperature records tumble.
Temperatures are breaking records both on land and in the oceans, with “potentially devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment,” the WMO said.
“We are in uncharted territory and we can expect more records to fall as El Niño develops further and these impacts will extend into 2014,” said Christopher Hewitt, WMO Director of Climate Services.
The world has warmed an average of nearly 1.2C since the mid-1800s, unleashing extreme weather, including more intense heatwaves, more severe droughts in some areas, and storms made fiercer by rising seas.
Oceans absorb most of the heat caused by planet-warming gases, causing heatwaves that harm aquatic life, altering weather patterns and disrupting crucial planet-regulating systems.
In June, global sea surface temperatures have hit unprecedented levels, while Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest extent for the month since satellite observations began, at 17 percent below average, breaking the previous June record by a substantial margin.
While sea surface temperatures normally recede relatively quickly from annual peaks, this year it stayed high, with scientists warning that this underscores an underappreciated but grave impact of climate change, as they try to understand the incredible changes that we are seeing at the moment.
As we prepare for the effects of El Niño which has been confirmed to have begun, all these changes and global temperature records being broken give us a stark reminder that our planning should no longer be for the short term, but the long term. Preparing for this year’s El Niño is a good thing, but it is no longer the only thing, as our communities have to expand our horizons and timetables when it comes to mitigating and adapting to climate change.
This year’s El Niño simply gives us an idea of what we are up against for the long term, especially if humanity fails at mitigating or reversing the effects of global warming and climate change. We are currently witnessing global temperature records being broken. How much more proof do we need to act with the needed urgency?*
