Record high temperature, sea level and air pollution in 2016

SunriseSunrise.Photo: Pixabay

Record high temperature, sea level and air pollution in 2016

The Earth has set some sad records last year. Never before have temperatures or sea levels been so high, claims the United States annual climate report.

 

“2016 was very extreme and worrying,” says one of the report authors, Jessica Blunden who does research at the US Research Network at NOAA.

A large number of key indicators show that the planet is getting hotter and the trend shows no signs of decline, according to the State of Climate Report.

“Last year’s record heat was a result of the combined impact of long-term global warming and a strong El Niño early in the year,” is stated in the report.

 the world’s glaciers shrink

The temperatures at land and sea, sea levels and concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere broke records that were set as late as 2015. Moreover, both the Arctic and Antarctic glaciers were measured at record low levels.

Researchers also find that the world’s glaciers have shrunk for the 37th consecutive year.
On average, world glaciers shrank by about one meter. Also the cases of extreme precipitation and drought increased, as did tropical cyclones.

The only global measurement that was at normal level was snow caps in the northern hemisphere, Deke Arndt, one of the report’s editors, points out.

The peer reviewed report is assembled by nearly 500 researchers from around the world and published annually by NOAA and the meteorological organization AMS.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today