Twenty years ago – and one year ago – on this day, July 3rd, 2003 and 2003, temperature records all…
In an astonishing announcement on global warming and extreme weather, the World Meteorological Organisation signalled last night that the world’s weather is going haywire.
In a startling report, the WMO, which normally produces detailed scientific reports and staid statistics at the year’s end, highlighted record extremes in weather and climate occurring all over the world in recent weeks, from Switzerland’s hottest-ever June to a record month for tornadoes in the United States – and linked them to climate change.
3 July 2003 Independent report and here too
And
July 3rd 2023, the first time on record that the Earth’s temperature exceeded 17C
Remember this date. Decades in the future we will look back on 17C with fondness
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 376ppm (2003) and 421 (2023). As of 2024 it is 426ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that scientists have been saying it was getting warmer for 100 years. They’ve been saying that carbon dioxide was probably the cause since 1953 (earlier if you count Guy Callendar). They were saying that weather records would fall. And guess what? Temperature records did fall 20 years apart in the UK.
What we learn from this is what we learn from history; “the only thing we learn is that we learn nothing from history.”
What happened next? The emissions kept climbing. The atmospheric concentrations kept climbing. The temperatures will keep climbing this year 2024 And by the way, I’m narrating in December 2023. It will be warmer still because of El Nino. And it really does look terminal for our species. Happy Days in the Samuel Beckett sense.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day:
July 3, 1986 – House of Lords debate about the atmosphere and fuel use…
July 3, 2008 – Greenpeace activists enter New South Wales coal power station
July 3, 2008 – Greenpeace occupies an Australian coal plant.