Summer 2023 was the hottest in 2,000 years, study finds

by | May 14, 2024 | Science

Last summer’s sweltering heat broke more than city or regional or even national records. In what they call an “alarming finding,” scientists say that in the Northern Hemisphere, the summer of 2023 was the hottest in 2,000 years.Global data already showed that last summer was the hottest on record. Copernicus, the European Union’s climate change observation organization, made that determination  But a new study, published in Nature on Tuesday, looked even further back using both observed and reconstructed temperatures from centuries past.They found the heat was “unparalleled,” the researchers said.According to their findings, the Northern Hemisphere experienced its hottest summer over the past 2,000 years by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius.Study co-author Ulf Büntgen, from the University of Cambridge, said in a press release that last year was “exceptionally hot,” but that the true extent of that heat is visible when looking back at the historical record.”When you look at the long sweep of history, you can see just how dramatic recent global warming is,” Büntgen said, “…and this trend will continue unless we reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.”The study also compared the temperatures of June, July and August in 2023 to those in the same months of 536 CE — the year one historian dubbed “the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year,” as it launched the coldest decade in millennia due to major volcanic eruptions. The difference from that coldest summer to the recent hottest one was 3.93 degrees Celsius.When it comes to climate change, some people argue that the climate is constantly changing, as seen in the cold period that was kickstarted in 536 CE. But lead author Jan Esper, from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany, said that while that’s true, it’s the continued emission of greenhouse gases that really make a difference. Burning fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, releases a set of gases that trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, steadily raising average temperatures. When that’s paired with natural weather events like El Niño, which occurs when surface temperatures warm up over the P …

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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnLast summer’s sweltering heat broke more than city or regional or even national records. In what they call an “alarming finding,” scientists say that in the Northern Hemisphere, the summer of 2023 was the hottest in 2,000 years.Global data already showed that last summer was the hottest on record. Copernicus, the European Union’s climate change observation organization, made that determination  But a new study, published in Nature on Tuesday, looked even further back using both observed and reconstructed temperatures from centuries past.They found the heat was “unparalleled,” the researchers said.According to their findings, the Northern Hemisphere experienced its hottest summer over the past 2,000 years by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius.Study co-author Ulf Büntgen, from the University of Cambridge, said in a press release that last year was “exceptionally hot,” but that the true extent of that heat is visible when looking back at the historical record.”When you look at the long sweep of history, you can see just how dramatic recent global warming is,” Büntgen said, “…and this trend will continue unless we reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.”The study also compared the temperatures of June, July and August in 2023 to those in the same months of 536 CE — the year one historian dubbed “the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year,” as it launched the coldest decade in millennia due to major volcanic eruptions. The difference from that coldest summer to the recent hottest one was 3.93 degrees Celsius.When it comes to climate change, some people argue that the climate is constantly changing, as seen in the cold period that was kickstarted in 536 CE. But lead author Jan Esper, from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany, said that while that’s true, it’s the continued emission of greenhouse gases that really make a difference. Burning fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, releases a set of gases that trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, steadily raising average temperatures. When that’s paired with natural weather events like El Niño, which occurs when surface temperatures warm up over the P …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
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