Temperatures around the world are likely to break records in the next five years.
Get ready:
The World Meteorological Organization ("WMO"), has determined “[t]here is an 80% chance that between 2025 and 2029, the world could experience the warmest year on record.” It’s report forecasts “that global warming is set to consistently exceed the 1.5°C(2.7°F) threshold compared to pre-industrialized levels over the next five years, increasing the chances of extreme weather events like hurricanes, heatwaves, floods, and droughts: “Higher global mean temperatures translates to more lives lost,” a climate scientist told The Associated Press.”
“Higher global mean temperatures may sound abstract, but it translates in real life to a higher chance of extreme weather: stronger hurricanes, stronger precipitation, droughts,” said Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, who wasn’t part of the calculations but said they made sense. “So higher global mean temperatures translate to more lives lost.”
“With every tenth of a degree the world warms from human-caused climate change “we will experience higher frequency and more extreme events (particularly heat waves but also droughts, floods, fires and human-reinforced hurricanes/typhoons),” emailed Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.”
“With the next five years forecast to be more than 1.5C warmer than preindustrial levels on average, this will put more people than ever at risk of severe heat waves, bringing more deaths and severe health impacts unless people can be better protected from the effects of heat. Also we can expect more severe wildfires as the hotter atmosphere dries out the landscape,” said Richard Betts, head of climate impacts research at the UK Met Office and a professor at the University of Exeter.”
Sources:
https://www.semafor.com/article/05/28/2025/global-temperatures-will-likely-break-records-in-next-five-years
https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-deadly-record-heat-wildfires-hurricanes-535b4df63b476d0f36ec553a1a78669d
Photo credits: Jorge Silva/File Photo/Reuters
