Sweltering heat is blanketing much of the planet and one unofficial analysis says the past seven days have been the hottest week on record, the latest grim milestone in a series of climate-change-driven extremes.
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration distanced itself from the designation, compiled by the University of Maine’s Climate Re-analyser, which uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world’s condition.
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That metric showed the Earth’s average temperature on Wednesday remained at an unofficial record high of 17.18C, set the day before.
For the seven-day period ending Wednesday, the daily average temperature was .04C higher than any week in 44 years of record-keeping, according to Climate Re-analyser data.
Although the figures are unofficial, many scientists agree they indicate climate change is reaching uncharted territory.
The White House said the data showed the need for legislative action.
“The alarming extreme weather events impacting millions of Americans underscore the urgency of President Biden’s climate agenda and the absurdity of continued efforts by Republican lawmakers to block and repeal it,” spokesman Abdullah Hasan said.
NOAA, whose figures are considered the gold standard in climate data, said in a statement on Thursday it cannot validate the unofficial numbers.
It noted that the re-analyser uses model output data, which it called “not suitable” as substitutes for actual temperatures and climate records.
The agency monitors global temperatures and records on a monthly and an annual basis, not daily.
“We recognise that we are in a warm period due to climate change, and combined with El Nino and hot summer conditions, we’re seeing record warm surface temperatures being recorded at many locations across the globe,” the statement said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the latest numbers helped prove “that climate change is out of control”.
“If we persist in delaying key measures that are needed, I think we are moving into a catastrophic situation, as the last two records in temperature demonstrates,” he said.
Feeling the heat
More frequent and more intense heat waves are disrupting life around the world and causing life-threatening temperatures.
In Timbuktu, Mali — at the gateway to the Sahara Desert — 50-year-old Fatoumata Arby said this kind of heat was new.
“Usually, at night it’s a bit cool even during the hot season but this year, even at night, it’s been hot — I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Arby, who rarely leaves her hometown.
“I’ve been having heart palpitations because of the heat.
“I’m starting to think seriously that I’m going to leave Timbuktu.”
Overall, one of the largest contributors to this week’s heat records is an exceptionally mild winter in the Antarctic.
Parts of the continent and nearby ocean were 10C to 20C higher than averages from 1979 to 2000.
“Temperatures have been unusual over the ocean and especially around the Antarctic this week because wind fronts over the Southern Ocean are strong pushing warm air deeper south,” said Raghu Murtugudde, professor of atmospheric, oceanic and earth system science at the University of Maryland.
Chari Vijayaraghavan, a polar explorer and educator who has visited the Arctic and Antarctic regularly for the past 10 years, said global warming was obvious at both poles.
He said it threatened the region’s wildlife and was driving the ice melt that raises sea levels.
“Warming climates might lead to increasing risks of diseases such as the avian flu spreading in the Antarctic that will have devastating consequences for penguins and other fauna in the region,” Vijayaraghavan said.
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