Main article: Earth (planet)
The environmental agenda is a tool of rich countries against the poor
Rich countries are using the green transition as an excuse to strengthen their own economies at the expense of developing countries, taking advantage of outdated WTO rules, the head of the UN trade department said in December 2023.
The rich world is using green politics to deter the poor, says Rebekah Greenspan. "Many trade rules prohibit policies that developing countries can use. And developed countries have more room to subsidize in areas that are favorable to "quote" - the environment, "said Rebekah Greenspan, secretary general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development. She condemns subsidies and environmental protectionism in the US and EU.
Global warming
The temperature on the planet depends on the angle of inclination of the Earth, which is constantly changing
There is a theory that global climate change may not be associated with the notorious human impact on nature in the form of emissions of all kinds of greenhouse gases, but with a constant change in the tilt of the Earth. Due to the oscillations of the axis, the Earth's surface receives different amounts of solar energy.
Based on this theory, the onset of climate warming associated with a change in the axis of rotation of the Earth will occur towards warming for the next fifteen hundred years. If you remember that the last cold snap occurred 10-12 thousand years ago (and half of the large circle of oscillation of the Earth's axis is 12,960 years), then with the precessional movement of our planet (associated with the impact of the Moon and the Sun, that is, oscillatory movement along a complex trajectory) the heat peak in the Northern Hemisphere has not yet been passed, and it will come in 1-3 thousand years - regardless of whether environmentalists will be able to reduce the temperature of the atmosphere or not. But it is not yet known to what magnitude the temperature on the planet will rise to this peak.
After 1-3 thousand years, having reached the peak of heat in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth in its precession movement will tilt in the opposite direction, and in another 13 thousand years it will reach the "peak of cold," and the ice age will come in the Northern Hemisphere.
2024: The world recorded its hottest day on record in July with an average temperature of 17.15 degrees
In July 2024, the planet recorded the hottest day in the history of meteorological observations. On July 22, 2024, the average temperature in the surface layer of the atmosphere reached 17.15 degrees Celsius, an absolute record for the entire history of observations that have been conducted since 1940, scientists said. This became known in August 2024.
According to Vedomosti, this figure exceeded the previous record set the day before - July 21, 2024, when the temperature was 17.09 degrees. Similar data was presented by the European climate change service Copernicus.
According to Copernicus, high temperatures were observed amid the heat wave in dozens of regions of the world, including, Russia, Canada areas of the Mediterranean, as well as Central, and China. Japan In Alaska some of these regions, air temperatures reached critical values, leading to increased natural disasters such as wildfires. For example, in the Central China air warmed up to 42 degrees, up to 44 Spain degrees, and up to 37 Japan degrees.
The scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, Roman Vilfand, stressed that in July 2024, anomalies were recorded in most of Antarctica, in which the temperature exceeded the average by more than 10 degrees. Such phenomena are a serious danger, especially given that such temperature deviations have been observed for 13 consecutive months.
Under the Paris climate agreement, global warming should be limited to below 2 degrees compared to the pre-industrial period. However, according to experts, the average global temperature in July 2024 was 1.7 degrees above normal. This indicates a significant deviation from the goal set by the international community.[1]
2023
Global warming rate hits record
The rate of global warming has reached a record high. Warming averaged 1.19 degrees Celsius during 2014-2023, compared to 1.14 degrees in 2013-2022. Such data are provided in the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published on June 5, 2024.
The study says that the pace of acceleration of warming in 2014-2023 became unprecedented: they reached 0.26 degrees Celsius. The main cause of warming is high greenhouse gas emissions, which average 53 billion tons of CO2 per year. It is noted that the record temperatures of 2023 are primarily due to human activity, but natural climate changes also played a role.
In general, the authors of the report emphasize, greenhouse gas emissions, mainly related to fossil fuel consumption and industrial activity, remain at a constantly high level. The global average surface temperature continues to increase. In addition, Earth's energy imbalance is growing with "unprecedented flows of heat" into the world's oceans. At the same time, the study notes that the rate of SO2 emissions in 2014-2023 slowed down compared to the 2000s.
Climate change, the WHO says, is directly contributing to humanitarian emergencies related to heatwaves, wildfires, floods, tropical storms and hurricanes, whose magnitude, frequency and intensity are increasing. A global temperature rise of even 1.5 degrees Celsius is considered unsafe, and additional warming for every tenth of a degree will have a major impact on people's lives and health. The climate crisis threatens to undo progress made on development, global health and poverty reduction.[2]
Hottest summer in 2000 years
Summer 2023 was the hottest in 2,000 years. This is stated in a study that European scientists published in mid-May 2024.
To establish 2,000-year data on Earth's temperature, the researchers combined instrumental measurements and climate reconstructions. They found that the extremely warm summer of 2023 not only broke modern records, but also surpassed the warmest summer of 246 by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius, and was also almost 4 degrees Celsius warmer than the coldest - in 536.
If you look at a long period of history, you can see how dramatic the current global warming is. 2023 was exceptionally hot, and this trend will continue if we do not sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions, "said Ulf Büntgen, one of the authors of the study, representing the University of Cambridge. |
The authors of the study attributed most of the warmer periods in 2023 to the impact of El Niño, which disrupts weather conditions around the world and usually leads to higher summer temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere. El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon, but its impact increases global warming, leading to even hotter summers, experts say. At the same time, he adds that the strongest heat is caused not only by known factors, but also by some new global processes that have not yet been determined.
Other studies confirm record high air temperatures in 2023. So, NASA called the summer of 2023 the hottest in the history of its observations since 1880. European climate change service Copernicus said 2023 was the warmest in history and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined 2023 was the warmest year in the world in a 174-year climate record.[3]
Hottest year ever
2023 was the hottest year on record - since 1850. This was announced on January 12, 2024 by five institutions at once - NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the EU Climate Change Service Copernicus and the British Meteorological Service (UK Met Office).
It is noted that the average annual global temperature in 2023 was 1.45 ± 0.12 ° C above the average temperature of the pre-industrial period (1850-1900). Global temperatures in each month from June to December 2023 set new monthly records. And July and August 2023 were the two hottest months on record.
In 2023, the average global temperature was 14.98 ° C, which is 0.17 ° C higher than the previous highest annual value recorded in 2016. On all days of 2023, global temperatures are estimated to have been more than 1C above the 1850-1900 average for the respective days. Approximately 50% of days in 2023 turned out to be 1.5C warmer compared to the pre-industrial period, and two days were more than 2C warmer.
Along with the historic heat, Antarctic sea ice fell to an all-time low in 2023. The heat content of the upper layers of the ocean in 2023 (at a depth of up to 2000 meters from the surface) was the highest on record. Between April and December 2023, global ocean surface temperatures were at a record high every month. Regionally, Africa, North and South America experienced the hottest year on record in 2023, and in Europe and Asia it became the second hottest. Tropical storm activity was above average in 2023, with 45 hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons.[4]
LNG exports increase greenhouse gases and Earth temperatures more than coal burning
In 2023, unexpectedly for American suppliers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), publications related to the topic of a real assessment of "environmental" efforts began to appear in the US scientific community . Robert W. Howarth, a specialist in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, presented the work 'Greenhouse Gas Footprint in the Export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the United States.
In his study, Robert W. Howarth looks at the effects of greenhouse gases such as SO2 and methane on enhancing the greenhouse effect. CO2 is generated by burning fossil fuels, and methane emissions are linked to both its production and transportation.
Howarth's findings are disappointing. Although some proponents of LNG argue that replacing it with coal is beneficial to the climate, the analysis presented by the researcher refutes this. In all scenarios considered, total greenhouse gas emissions from LNG are greater than from coal and range from 24% to 274%. For more details, see LNG.
UN investigation against Saudi Aramco on impact on climate change
In August 2023, it became known that the UN was investigating Saudi Aramco for possible human rights violations related to climate change caused by the use of fossil fuels. Read more here.
The average temperature on the planet for the first time reached 17.2 degrees and the record temperature in summer
The summer of 2023 was the hottest in the world on record, according to Copernicus data. Temperatures in June, July and August were 0.66C above the average between 1991 and 2020.
The average planet temperature on July 6 was 17.2 degrees - 0.3 degrees more than the previous record in 2016.
Such a sharp increase is caused not only by ongoing global warming, but also by the beginning of El Niño - a periodically occurring and to the end unexplored phenomenon associated with a change in water temperature in the Pacific Ocean.
Temperatures in Europe in January 2023 were 2,2C higher than the 30-year average.
June became the hottest on the planet in history
June 2023 was the hottest month on record. This was announced on July 6, 2023 by the European Climate Change Tracking Service Copernicus (Copernicus Climate Change Service, C3S).
The C3S report said temperatures topped the 1991-2020 average by about 0.5C in June 2023. Moreover, the previous record recorded in June 2019 was broken by a significant margin. Record June temperatures are seen in the northwest Europe. In some parts, Canada,, and USA Mexico Asia eastern Australia it was also significantly warmer than usual. At the same time, in the western parts of Australia and the United States, as well as in the west Russia in June 2023, it turned out to be cooler than in previous years.
The study said that the surface temperature of the oceans was higher than in any previous June on record. In the North Atlantic, abnormally high sea surface temperatures were recorded, caused by a combination of short-term atmospheric phenomena and long-term changes in the ocean. Antarctic sea ice shrank to the smallest area in June 2023 since satellite observations began: the figure was 17% below average, which significantly broke the previous June record.
In May 2023, sea surface temperatures around the world were higher than in any previous May, and this trend continued until June, with a higher sea surface temperature in the global ocean than in any previous June on record, the report said. |
American experts from the National Center for Environmental Forecasting reported that July 3, 2023 was the hottest day in history: the global average temperature reached 17.01 ° C. The previous record, recorded in August 2016, was 16.92 °[5]
2020
2018: Five of the warmest years in measurement history
From 2014 to 2018 - were the warmest years ever recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in USA 139 years of record-keeping. Extreme weather events are becoming more and more common, making headlines around the world.
A special report prepared by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) showed that the Paris Agreement would be insufficient to limit the effects of climate change. Instead, the report found that there were only about 10 years left to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. The report raised concerns among business leaders and policymakers around the world. For their part, customers and companies are increasingly exploring ways to tackle climate change, starting with how they use energy (see alternative power).
Natural disasters
Weather-related incidents are more likely to force people to leave their homes.
If in 2008 there were about 200 such events per year, then in 2018 - about one and a half thousand.
The main reason is hurricanes, floods and fires. And three times as many people are now leaving their homes because of natural disasters than because of wars.
Climate in the regions and countries of the world
History
39,280 hp: Volcanic winter from the mega-eruption of the Phlegrean fields
The earliest activity of the Flegrei Fields supervolcano in southern Italy began about 39,280 years ago and was accompanied by a powerful volcanic eruption and the release into the atmosphere of about 200 km³[6] volcanic material].
The mega-eruption coincided in time with the eruptions of the volcanoes Kazbek in the Caucasus and St. Anna in the Southern Carpathians. According to seismologists and paleoclimatologists, it became one of the reasons for the "volcanic winter."
Sulfur has increased over Europe, absorbing and scattering sunlight. In the year following the eruption, temperatures across the planet dropped by 2 degrees Celsius, with a 5-degree decline in Western Europe.
Notes
- ↑ Copernicus: July 22 was the hottest day on the planet on record
- ↑ Indicators of Global Climate Change 2023: annual update of large-scale indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence
- ↑ Last Summer Was the Hottest in 2,000 Years — and 2024 Could Top It
- ↑ 2023 confirmed as hottest year on record by 5 separate organizations
- ↑ C. Copernicus: Record North Atlantic warmth– Hottest June on record globally
- ↑ [http://vulkania.ru/kalderyi/kaldera-kampi-flegrey.html of Calder Campi Flegrei