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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

10/01/24 06:34 AM IST

2023 was the warmest year ever

In News
  • 2023 was the warmest year since records began in 1850, beating the previous record of 2016.
  • The announcement said temperatures in 2023 likely exceeded those of any year-long period in at least the last 100,000 years.
Why so hot?
  • The main driver behind the extreme warming is the increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
  • Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, and water vapour trap the Sun’s energy in the Earth’s system before it escapes to space, causing warming.
  • Since the industrial revolution, human activities like burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gases have released unprecedented levels of such gases.
  • As a result, the planet has warmed rapidly, especially in recent decades.
  • In 2023, greenhouse gas concentrations reached the highest levels ever recorded in the atmosphere, according to C3S and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).
  • Carbon dioxide concentrations in 2023 were 2.4 parts per million (ppm) higher than in 2022; methane concentrations increased by 11 parts per billion (ppb)
  • The onset of El Niño last year, after seven years, played a role.
  • El Niño refers to an abnormal warming of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. It increased the likelihood that temperature records would be broken, and there would be more extreme heat in many parts of the world and the ocean.
Concerns
  • Scientists have suggested that 2024 could be warmer than even 2023.
  • Typically, in the past few decades, very hot years have been ones that began in an El Niño state
  • It is also possible that the next year may surpass the 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold across the entire calendar year for the first time.
  • The WMO in its 2023 State of Global Climate report said there was a 66% chance that at least one of the years between 2023 and 2027 would cross the threshold.
  • A long-term breach of the 1.5 degree limit would unleash far more severe climate change impacts, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves, and rainfall.
  • To prevent this, the world needs to urgently implement certain steps, including greenhouse gas emission cuts, which it has failed to do so far.
Source- Indian Express

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