2022 to be fifth warmest year ever recorded: NASA

Washington:

(NASA) Earth’s average surface temperature in 2022 is tied with the fifth warmest temperature on record for 2015.

Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York reported that global temperatures in 2022 were 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0.89 degrees Celsius, higher than NASA’s baseline period 1951-1980 average, continuing the planet’s long-term warming trend. .

“This heat trend is dangerous,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

“Our warming climate is already making a mark: wildfires are intensifying; hurricanes are getting stronger; droughts are wreaking havoc and sea levels are rising,” said Nelson. NASA is working to address climate change. Deepening our commitment to

The last nine years have been the warmest years since modern record-keeping began in 1880, the study said. This means that Earth in 2022 was about 2 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 1.11 degrees Celsius, warmer than the late 19th century average.

“The warming trend is because human activities continue to pump enormous amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and long-term planetary effects will continue,” said GISS director Gavin Schmidt.

Human-driven greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2020 after a short-term decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the study said.

Recently, NASA scientists as well as international scientists determined carbon dioxide emissions were the highest on record in 2022, the study said.

NASA has also identified some super-emitters of methane – another potent greenhouse gas – using the Earth’s Surface Mineral Dust Source Probe instrument, the study said.

The Arctic region continues to experience the strongest warming trends — close to four times the global average, according to the GISS research presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, as well as a separate study.

Communities around the world are experiencing the effects that scientists see as being linked to a warming climate and ocean. Climate change has intensified rainfall and tropical storms, deepened the severity of drought, and increased the impact of storm surges.

Last year brought torrential monsoon rains that ravaged Pakistan and frequent megasuts in the American Southwest. In September, Hurricane Ian struck the continental US. became one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes to strike

NASA’s global temperature analysis was drawn from data collected by weather stations and Antarctic research stations, as well as by instruments mounted on ships and oceans. The study said NASA scientists analyzed these measurements to account for uncertainties in the data and to maintain consistent methods for calculating the difference in global mean surface temperature each year.

These ground-based measurements of surface temperatures were consistent with satellite data and other estimates collected since 2002 by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on NASA’s Aqua satellite, the study said.

NASA uses the period 1951–1980 as a baseline to understand how global temperatures change over time. The study said the baseline includes unusually warm or cold years caused by climate patterns such as La Nina and El Nino, as well as other factors, ensuring it incorporates natural variations in Earth’s temperature. .

Many factors can affect the average temperature in any given year. For example, 2022 was one of the warmest on record despite the third consecutive year of La Nina conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean, the study said.

NASA scientists estimate that La Nina’s cooling effect may have lowered global temperatures slightly, about 0.11 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.06 degrees Celsius, which would have been above average under normal ocean conditions.

A separate, independent analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concluded that global surface temperatures for 2022 were the sixth highest since 1880.

NOAA scientists used the same raw temperature data in their analysis, but had a different baseline period (1901–2000) and methodology. The study noted that although the rankings for specific years differed slightly between records, they were in broad agreement and both reflected long-term warming.

The full dataset of NASA’s global surface temperature up to 2022, as well as full details of how NASA scientists conducted the analysis, is publicly available from GISS, the study said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)