Dramatic state of the Arctic: Global warming will continue to increase in 2021

Sunday 19 December 2021

dramatic state of the arctic
Global warming will continue to increase in 2021

Earth continues to warm. 2021 will also be one of the hottest years on record. The results are extreme weather and natural disasters. The climate crisis does not seem to have reversed a trend.

Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, tornadoes or record rainfall – in many places around the world, extreme weather events in 2021 will make it clear how much the effects of climate change can already be felt. Is. Experts are certain: 2021 will again be one of the warmest years since records began, and there are no signs of a trend reversal.

According to the US climate agency NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) in early December, 2021 will be one of the ten warmest years since records began, with a probability of more than 99 percent. It is likely that this will be the sixth warmest year ever. The ten warmest years ever measured over the past two decades: 2016, 2020, 2019, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2014, 2010, 2013, 2005.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) previously announced that, according to preliminary measurements, the year 2021 will probably not be quite as warm as the previous three years, but nothing has changed in the long-term trend of significant warming. 2021 will be one of the seven warmest years in recent history – since 2015.

“We are digging our own graves”

At the United Nations Climate Conference in Scotland in November, a global farewell to coal was introduced, but with an apparently watery formulation. Climate activist Greta Thunberg commented, “Here’s a short summary: blah, blah, blah.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the consensus was an “important step”, but “not enough”. “We are digging our own graves,” the UN chief warned earlier.

Several regional climate records were broken in 2021. Land temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere were on average higher than at any time since NOAA records began in 1880. Meanwhile, according to scientists, the Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the Earth. “The effects of man-made climate change are driving the Arctic region into a dramatically different state than it was just a few decades ago,” said NOAA CEO Rick Spinrad. “These trends are alarming and undeniable. We have reached a critical moment. We must act and face the climate crisis.”

In addition, researchers are concerned about other persistent trends such as the reduced extent of ice cover in the Antarctic and higher emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2). And the prospects of 2022 also do not promise any improvement. According to NOAA scientists, the probability is now more than 99 percent that 2022 will again be one of the ten warmest years since records began.