Why are temperature records being broken?
This summer temperature records have been broken throughout the Northern Hemisphere in China, Japan, the US, here in the UK, across the rest of Europe and even in the Arctic Circle.
It has been the hottest day ever in so many places. What’s going on?
Global warming
These unprecedented heat waves are because of global warming.
It’s all down to greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide gas.
This is produced from burning fossil fuels, just like the oil and gas burnt in our power stations and in our boilers and cars.
As carbon pollution is released into the atmosphere, it acts like a blanket around our planet, absorbing the sun’s heat, which then warms our oceans and land.
The more fossil fuels we burn, the hotter our planet is going to get and the more extreme our weather becomes.
It’s getting hot in here
The average temperature on Earth has risen by 1.1 C since 1880.
Most of that warming’s occurred since 1975.
It might not sound like much but these heatwaves are an indication of the gravity of what such rises mean.
The 2015 Paris Agreement committed all countries to
keeping to 1.5C of warming by cutting pollution.
As things stand we are headed for a catastrophic 3C by 2100.
Faster than predicted
Climate scientists have warned about global warming for decades.
What’s happening now is that their projections are not only being proven right but things are heating up even faster than they expected.
With heat waves come wildfires, as they create the tinder dry conditions that help them spread faster, burn longer and rage more intensively.
In the UK, we’re not prepared, as the devastating infernos raging across the country recently illustrated.
There have been almost 500 wildfires so far this year in England and Wales, compared with
Wildfires
237 last year.
But even in southern Europe, this year’s wildfires have been especially destructive.
Extreme heat is deadly. In Spain and Portugal 748 people died in the recent heatwaves.
It’s also a threat to growing crops and having enough affordable food for everyone to eat.
The heat wave in India earlier this year, for example, torched the subcontinent’s wheat crop and created a major issue for global wheat supplies.
This summer’s soaring temperatures are a wake-up call.
The reality is that we can change our future and stop them from spiralling out of control if we act now.