Crazy weather. So, 2023 has been one wild year when it comes to climate records. We’re talking seriously high sea temps, crazy low Antarctic ice, and extreme weather smacking every corner of the globe. Brazil just had this heatwave that people described as “unbearable.”
Hottest Year Yet?
It’s looking almost certain that 2023 is going to snatch the title of the hottest year ever. That’s a surprise because no big climate science crew saw this coming at the start of the year.
The Warming Riddle
Scientists have known for ages that things will heat up as we keep spewing out tons of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. That’s the main reason our planet is warming up.
El Niño Madness
First off, we’ve got this El Niño thing happening unusually fast. El Niño brings warmer waters in the eastern Pacific, which pumps more heat into the air and usually makes global temps shoot up. The thing is, this El Niño seems to be getting stronger quicker than before, and it’s not even hit full blast yet.
Cooling the Air But Warming the Earth?
Then there’s the deal with cutting some air pollutants to clean up what we breathe. But guess what? These tiny particles called aerosols usually reflect some of the Sun’s rays, cooling down the Earth. Now that we’ve cut back on certain pollutants, we’re seeing more sunlight getting absorbed by the oceans, which makes them warmer.
Volcanic ‘Oops’
Remember that huge underwater volcano eruption in January 2022? Yeah, that pumped a bunch of water vapor, which is a greenhouse gas, into the sky. So, that might’ve added a bit to the warming.
Antarctic Alarm
Antarctica’s sea-ice is at rock bottom compared to before, especially in September. This means more of the Sun’s energy gets soaked up by the darker ocean instead of being reflected by the ice. That speeds up warming, kind of like what’s been happening in the Arctic.
Faster Warming?
So, is our planet warming up faster than we thought? Well, it’s definitely heating up quickly these days, but it hasn’t consistently gone beyond what scientists predicted from their climate models.
More Surprises Ahead?
But here’s the thing: some top scientists warn that our climate might go nuts faster than we thought in the future. They think the planet hasn’t fully reacted to the gases we’ve already pumped out. Plus, those aerosols might’ve been masking some of the warming, so there might be more heating up coming our way.
The Urgency of Action
All this crazy weather should be a big wake-up call to speed up ditching fossil fuels, especially with the big COP28 climate summit coming up. It’s not like we needed more proof, but climate change is a huge problem that’s already causing havoc.
It’s as Bad as Expected And That’s Bad
Bottom line: Climate change is just as bad as scientists thought, and that’s terrible news. It’s urgent to tackle this before things get even worse.