Climate-wise, 2023 has been a year of extremes. Hundreds of people have died due to extreme heat. In this edition of Science for All, The Hindu takes a look at some climate records broken this year.
Hottest week
The week between July 3 and July 10 was noted to be the world’s hottest week on record, according to data from Japan Meteorological Agency and Europe’s Copernicus.
Hottest June
NASA recorded June 2023 as the hottest June on record for the earth. Experts have also predicted that in all probability, July 2023 will emerge as the hottest month on record, reports said.
Antarctic sea ice cover
Global sea ice cover has reduced to alarmingly low levels in 2023.
Sea ice melts during Antarctica’s summer, which starts around October and ends in March, and then freezes again during the winter months. At 1.79 million square kilometres, sea ice around Antarctica reached its lowest extent in summer months on February 21, 2023. In winter months, it was recorded at 11.7 million square kilometres – record-low extent for this time of the year – on June 27, 2023.
Marine heatwaves
According to data from Copernicus, global oceans in June 2023 saw higher sea surface temperatures than any previous June on record. Extreme marine heatwaves were observed around Ireland, the U.K. and in the Baltic Sea.
Why is it so hot this year?
Scientists have blamed climate change combined with an emerging El Niño pattern for extreme heat around the world. El Nino is a weather pattern that brings warm water from the western Pacific towards the Americas, disrupting multiple ecosystems. Since the Pacific covers almost one-third of the earth, changes in its temperature and subsequent alteration of wind patterns disrupt global weather patterns.
Most of the earth’s heat is stored in its oceans. El Niño helps heat stored deep in the oceans to move closer to the surface, causing even more extreme marine heatwaves and affecting climate patterns worldwide.
