Most scientists think that the Earth is getting warmer and that human activities are making it worse. This story looks at some of the evidence they use.
A weather super computer at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [Image credit: General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT)]Weather experts collect millions of temperature measurements from all around the world every day. They put these results into powerful computers that build a picture of the climate across the world every day. Their results suggest that 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded.
The average October temperatures for the surface of the Earth from 1940 to 2020. The warmest temperatures have been in the last ten years.
The temperature of the Earth in 2024 is about 1.5°C higher than it was in 1880, before large factories, cars, and airplanes existed. The yearly temperatures since 2020 include three of the hottest years since we started recording temperatures.
A 1.5°C rise in temperature does not sound like much, but it is having a big effect on the weather around the world.
There has been an increase in the number and severity of tropical storms in recent years. [Photograph from: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2024/07/03/7-dead-as-hurricane-beryl-barrels-towards-jamaica/]The temperature of the water in the seas in 2024 was the hottest ever. This causes the wind speeds to increase in tropical storms, causing huge damage when they hit coastal towns.
Flooding in Monmouth town centre, 1990. The number and severity of such weather events is increasing. [Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/imagined_horizons/9637969736]Warm air can hold more water than colder air, so rainstorms can be more powerful and last longer. Flooding in low-lying areas becomes more common.
The level of the sea in 2024 is about 111 mm higher than it was in 1993. This increases the risk of flooding in coastal areas.
Rising sea levels are affecting the survival of many islands. [Photograph credit: Envato Elements pic, https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2022/02/24/present-day-rise-in-sea-levels-may-have-begun-in-1863/]Some small islands in the ocean are at risk of disappearing due to the rising sea waters. Nyangai Island off the coast of Sierra Leone has almost been lost to the waves.
Polar bears are finding it harder to hunt because of melting summer ice in the Arctic. [Photograph: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/29664357826]
The rising sea levels are being made worse by the melting of the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. Summer ice in the Arctic is disappearing by about 12% every ten years. It is affecting the survival of polar bears.
