I think there are very few people now who don’t realise that climate change is happening, the world is indeed heating up, and this is causing some serious problems that will only get worse. So this report card on 2015 can be brief.
2015 was the hottest
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released temperature figures for last year, and it was significantly hotter than the previous hottest year, 2014.
The graph also shows that the supposed “pause” in rising temperatures (1998-2011) was a temporary slowdown over a generally sharply rising curve, only made vaguely plausible by carefully selecting the start and end points. If we look at the larger picture (say since about 1960), the rise is clear, and ongoing. Fifteen of the sixteen hottest years on record occurred this century.
We are living in record hot times. The Australian Climate Council says:
No one aged under 40 has lived in a year with global average temperatures at or below the global 20th century average.
All sorts of temperature records were broken in the past year.
It’s already having a serious effect
Climate change models predict that the world, overall, will get hotter, rainfall patterns will be changed, and extreme weather (storms, droughts, etc) will increase. We are seeing these effects all around the world:
- The World Meteorological Organisation reports many unusual flood and drought events around the world, indicating changing rainfall patterns, with many instances of 24-hour totals exceeding normal monthly averages. At the same time, many parts of the world experienced extended droughts.
- Bushfires have been a problem in the US and Australia in 2015. Studies show that climate change has increased bushfire frequency and has significantly extended the Australian fire season. (Similar effects have been calculated around the world. For example, Alaska experienced almost double the normal number of bushfires and double the area of land burnt out in 2015.)
- There has been an increase in hurricane activity and severity. Hurricane Patricia, in October 2015, was the most powerful (measured by wind speed) hurricane ever recorded in the western hemisphere.
- The US has experienced an unusually mild (warmer) Christmas, but right now parts of the US are experiencing record and damaging snow storms.
- Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef (in fact, it is the largest living thing on earth), but over the last 40 years has begun to experience bleaching events caused by raised water temperatures. These events have been a major cause of a decline in coral cover, down to half what it used to be.
There are some positive signs
The cost of renewable energy has decreased significantly in the past decade, and the renewable energy sector is growing – almost 5 million new jobs in 6 years, as many countries and cities dramatically increase their commitment to renewable energy. Unfortunately, Australia reduced its commitment to renewable energy in the past few years, although a change of leadership may reverse that (we hope!).
But there is still a long way to go.
Support the necessary change
We can all support the necessary change through our votes, our purchase of clean energy and lobbying. Please consider.
Read more
Read more about climate change on this website.
Picture: Climate Council.
Perhaps the earth is heating up, but in the annals of time, in the earths muli billion year existence is it not probable that the earth has heated up before? And, indeed, cooled down before?
We see the world ain a mere hundred year chunks, at best, in a few thousand year chunks. To think that man could cause the earth to heat up is folly at best. My guess is that man will o longer exist in the next million or so years, maybe a couple of million years at best. The insignificance of man in the universe can not be overstated. Man is just barely more than nothing in the scheme of things. Suck it up or live with your myths……..and good luck.
Hi Greyfox, thanks for reading and commenting.
Yes, the earth’s temperature has gone up and down before, that’s why we have had ice ages and warmer periods. And those change had massive effects. In some cases there were no people around, but in other times they forced large migrations of people. The problem now is that the earth’s human population is so much larger and we depend on our infrastructure like houses, roads, electricity and national borders, so a change in climate affects us so much more.
“To think that man could cause the earth to heat up is folly at best”
Why do you say this? The climate scientists have computer models to show how and why it is happening? Why would you doubt those? And we have had other large effects, like the hole in the ozone layer caused by the use of CFC gases, and the extinction of many species. The folly is in disregarding what is obvious. The sad thing is that it will be our grandchildren’s generation and beyond that will bear the brunt of our folly.