The world is on the verge of irreversible climate consequences
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While the year 1988 was the warmest on record, it ranks now the 28th warmest year in NASA's data set.
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The world has not experienced a cooler than average year since 1976
According to new data from NASA, NOAA, and Berkeley Earth, 2021 ranked as the 6th warmest year on record.
Year after year, the data show that the fast global warming is caused by greenhouse emissions, particularly over the past decades.
Extreme climate events that have never been witnessed before are emerging in the form of worldwide changes in ocean heat, moisture in the atmosphere, and the temperature of the air near the surface of the earth.
Earlier this year, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service released data showing that the presence of La Niña event in the tropical Pacific Ocean caused to keep the year 2021 in the list of top 10 years.
A continuous chain of extreme weather conditions and climate catastrophes was also witnessed last year, in the form of unprecedented water and temperatures levels.
According to a study, such heatwaves could have been prevented was it not for the global warming caused by man.
Two facts give an actual idea of how much the world has warmed over years: the first is that earth has not witnessed a cooler than average year since 1976, in comparison with the 20th-century average.
The year 1988, which was the hottest year on record, is now the 28th hottest year in NASA's data set, as per Gavin Schmidt, who directs the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.
These surprising numbers show how much the climate varied from just a few decades ago.
The second fact is that the years from 2013 to 2021 are among the top 10 warmest years on record, as per the NOAA.
Planet Earth is today 1.2°C warmer than it was before the industrial revolution.
Scientists warn that more dangerous and irreversible climate consequences may happen in the future, such as the melting of ice caps and the loss of iconic ecosystems like coral reefs.
To wrap up, the planet's "cool" years are today among the top 8 warmest years, and there are no chances that global warming is slowing, except if humans sharply curb greenhouse gas emissions down to below zero in the coming decades.
