The planet records record temperatures for the third day in a row – Escambray

Scientists have been warning for months that the year 2023 could see record heat

The planet’s average temperature remained at record levels on Wednesday, two days after unofficial records were broken. This is the latest sign in a series of extreme events caused by climate change.

The global average temperature was 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the Climate Reanalyzer, a tool from the University of Maine that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the state of the planet. The record equaled the record set the previous day, after breaking the previous mark on Monday with a temperature of 17.01 Celsius (62.6 Fahrenheit).

Scientists have been warning for months that 2023 could be a record hot year with climate change, largely driven by the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil, warming the atmosphere.

In addition, they point out, La Niña, the natural cooling of the oceans that served as a counterweight to this warming, has given way to El Niño, the opposite phenomenon marked by warming oceans. The North Atlantic has set a record high temperature this year.

“A record like this is further evidence of the now widely supported thesis that global warming is propelling us into a hotter future,” said Chris Field, a Stanford climate scientist who was not involved in the calculations.

Sean Burkle, a climate scientist at the University of Maine and founder of the Climate Analysis Tool, explained that the daily numbers are not official but provide a useful picture of what is happening in a warming world.

Although it’s not a government record, it “gives us an indication of where we are right now,” said Sarah Kapnick, chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The US agency indicated that it would take them into account in its calculations of official records.

Although the set of data used to determine the unofficial record only dates back to 1979, Kapnick said that given the other data, the planet likely had its hottest day “in the several hundred years that we’ve lived.” “.

Scientists often use much longer measurements of months, years and decades to track global warming. But the daily highs are an indication that climate change is reaching uncharted territory.

Kapnick added that 38 million Americans were on heat alert on Wednesday.

This included communities that were not used to much heat. In North Greenville, Ontario, the city turned its ice hockey rinks into cooling hubs as temperatures reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) Wednesday, with humidity reaching wind chills of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

“It feels like we live in a tropical country,” city spokeswoman Jill Sturdy said. It’s like he hit you. The air is very dense.

With many places having temperatures close to 37.8°C (almost 100°F), the average may not seem very high. But the global high recorded on Tuesday was higher than the average recorded between 1979 and 2000 degrees Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit), which already exceeds the averages of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Quebec and Peru broke records for hotter temperatures this week. Last week, Beijing recorded nine consecutive days when thermometers topped 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). Cities across the US, from Medford, Oregon, to Tampa, Florida, are hovering around all-time highs, said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.