Temperatures will continue to rise on the planet in 2021, and if this trend continues, the global warming cap will be reached within ten years, which was set by the Paris Agreement at 1.5 degrees Celsius and which the international community proposed to stop.
NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed in their annual report, released Thursday, that last year was the sixth warm year since records began in 1880, and that the past seven years have seen warmer temperatures.
“We are about 0.8 or 0.9 degrees Celsius (increase). If the pattern that is observed is followed, 10 years from now, more or less 2031 or 2032, we will reach that point (1.5 degrees Celsius),” explained Idel Sepulveda. Scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center.
In 2015, the international community agreed on measures to prevent the planet from reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming in the Paris Agreement, which the United States withdrew from during the presidency of Donald Trump (2017-2021) and returned with Joe Biden.
Sepulveda specified that passing this point “does not mean that there will be catastrophes” on the same day, but warned that if measures are not taken by then, there will be areas on the planet in which it will be very difficult to live. “
A NASA and NOAA report showed that Earth and ocean surface temperatures last year were 14.7°C, which is 0.84°C more than the 20th century average.
In this way, 2021 was the sixth warmest year since records began in 1880, slightly above and beyond 2018 in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
So far, the two warmest years have been 2015 and 2020.
Last year was one of the hottest, although La Niña has been recorded, which means cooler Pacific waters and lower temperatures.
“Even with La Niña, being among the warmest years allows us to see that 2021 has followed the pattern of the last decade on the planet,” Sepulveda emphasized.
According to the report, 2021 has become the 45th consecutive year with temperatures above the average of the last century.
In addition, the summer of 2021 was the hottest in the northwest US, and last December was the third hottest summer in South America.
