All sorts of records are being broken in all sorts of places
Earth’s average temperature, having set a new record on July 3rd, have yet to fall back below the previous record, which was set just last year. That ashould happen in July is, by itself, perhaps unsurprising. Two-thirds of the Earth’s land is in the northern hemisphere, and land warms up faster than water does, so northern summers are the hottest times of year for the planet as a whole. But the highest temperatures tend to come later in the season.
The climate has natural variations, too, and the most famous of them, the El Nino Southern Oscillation , is adding to the warmth.is a sloshing back and forth in the winds and currents of the tropical Pacific ocean which sometimes sees the waters suck up more heat, and sometimes sees them give more heat out. In June the world entered an “El Niño” phase, in which heat is released.
Dr Hansen thinks there is. He argues that the rate at which the world is warming seems to have gone through a step change in the 2010s, though he has not yet convinced his peers. This summer’s surprises, especially a run of record temperatures in the North Atlantic, might help change that. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see papers appearing over the next few years saying [the Atlantic anomaly is] more than just another extreme,” says Myles Allen, a climate modeller at Oxford University.
Other possible influences are waxing. When ice ages end, methane levels in the atmosphere shoot up, ushering in the warmer climate of the “interglacial” to come. Some scientists cite recent increases in methane levels as evidence that something similar may be afoot today. Methane levels rose throughout the 20th century, mainly because of the rising use of fossil fuels and agriculture. They flattened off at the beginning of the 21st century, but are now growing faster than ever.
But sulphate particles in the lower atmosphere reflect sunlight, just like those created in the stratosphere after volcanic eruptions. And, unlike those in the normally bone-dry stratosphere, particles lower down can help create clouds which reflect away more sunshine still. Controls on pollution mean that this climate-cooling side effect has been weakening.
A sweltering world might try to find a way to keep the cooling properties of sulphates without the drawbacks for air quality and health. In 2006 Paul Crutzen, an atmospheric scientist, suggested this might be done by continuously injecting small amounts of sulphur directly into the stratosphere. Since there is no rain to flush them out, high-flying stratospheric particles last much longer than those in the lower atmosphere.
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