A new study led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed on Thursday that 2016 was the hottest year in history.
On June 1, President Donald Trump announced the nation would withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate accord because he didn’t believe the global warming was real or affecting the Earth. Now, more evidence adds up to claim otherwise.
Less than a week from this announcement, his government’s chief science agency released a report expressing the global warming was real and getting worse every day. Today, the 280-pages special report was published as its 27th version titled State of the Climate in 2016, in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
More tropical cyclones, longer droughts, less snow and less Antarctic ice
Scientists from all over the world sentenced that last year was the worst for the planet. The international report was made by 450 scientists from 60 countries, facing widespread skepticism about the phenomenon.
And, yes. Humans have played a huge role in it. But the link between global change and human activity is not detailed in the study. The conclusions were published earlier this week in a new draft portion of the National Climate Assessment emphasized by The New York Times.
The annual international report showed the temperatures recorded on last year were the highest ever. There were more significant tropical cyclones than any year, droughts that lasted longer, and fewer snowfalls. The damage is done and can’t be hidden; the evidence is irrefutable. The time has passed, and the Antarctic sea ice has declined.
Last years were the worst for a long time when talking about climate change matter. It surpassed 2015, of course. 2016 is considered as the hottest year since 136 years ago. NOAA said this is the third consecutive year breaking the record of hottest years. It also said the reason is not only because of global warming, but also a strong El Niño in early 2016.
Sea’s temperatures and gas concentration hold records on 2016
Global greenhouse gas concentration also achieved another record. The average of carbon dioxide concentration, for example, is of 402.9 parts per million for the year. For the first time in 800,000 years, the 400 ppm is left behind, according to NOAA’s report. In one year, the concentration increased by 3.2 ppm, considering the biggest peak since the record-keeping began at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa 58 years ago.
Sea temperatures keep getting higher. NOAA report also documented 2016 was the year with the warmest temperatures. Since 2000, the maritime temperature is increasing by 2.92 degrees Fahrenheit per century, much more than the 1950-2016 trend of warming at 1.8 degrees per century.
Global sea levels are also increasing, 2016 is the year where it reached the highest level ever. Today, the sea is about 3.25 inches higher than 1993; this year is the sixth consecutive year global sea levels have grown. The average rise in the past two decades is of 0.13 inches per year, increasing the most in the Indian and western Pacific oceans, the report also said.
The editors of the report Jessica Blunden and Derek S. Arndt, both from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told that “the major indicators of climate change continued to reflect trends consistent with a warming planet.”
Donald Trump has refused the existence of climate change, even call it a “hoax.”
Trump’s advisers have plans to hold a public debate with researchers about global warming and climate change. Scott Pruitt, chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, told his review could be made public as soon as this fall.
“The American people deserve an honest, open, transparent discussion about this supposed threat to this country,” Pruitt said on a North Dakota radio show Wednesday.
David Schnare, who worked for a short time at the Environmental Protection Agency under Trump, said these kind of reports are “hard to dodge.” He claims that they could interfere with the EPA work, working to reverse a 2009 study that claims carbon dioxide emissions represent a danger to the public.
Source: Bloomberg