{"id":3885,"date":"2015-11-10T09:04:51","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T17:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/in-first-global-temps-could-average-1-8-degrees-higher\/"},"modified":"2015-11-10T09:04:51","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T17:04:51","slug":"in-first-global-temps-could-average-1-8-degrees-higher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/in-first-global-temps-could-average-1-8-degrees-higher\/","title":{"rendered":"In first, global temps could average 1.8 degrees higher"},"content":{"rendered":"

STOCKHOLM \u2014<\/strong> This year is on track to be a record 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the 19th-century average, hitting a symbolic milestone in the temperature rise that scientists blame mostly on human activities, Britain\u2019s weather service said Monday.<\/p>\n

To measure global warming, scientists compare today\u2019s temperature level with that of the latter part of the 19th century, when record keeping began and before humans started burning fossil fuels on a large scale, releasing heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air.<\/p>\n

A rise of 1.8 degree F (1 degree C) is important because it\u2019s halfway to the 3.6 degrees that governments have set as a limit to avoid dangerous levels of warming.<\/p>\n

The British Met Office said global temperatures in January-September were 1.02 C above the 1850-1900 average, adding that the remainder of the year is expected to remain hot because of the El Nino weather phenomenon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had similar natural events in the past, yet this is the first time we\u2019re set to reach the 1 degree C marker and it\u2019s clear that it is human influence driving our modern climate into uncharted territory,\u201d said Stephen Belcher, director of the Met Office Hadley Centre for climate science.<\/p>\n

Met Office officials noted it doesn\u2019t mean every year from now will be at least 1 degree warmer, as natural variability will still play a role.<\/p>\n

The World Meteorological Organization, the U.N. weather agency, is expected to release its assessment of this year\u2019s temperatures later this month, combining the Met Office numbers with data from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the U.S.<\/p>\n

On Monday, WMO reported that levels of carbon dioxide and methane, the two most important greenhouse gases, reached record highs last year, continuing the warming effect on the world\u2019s climate.<\/p>\n

Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels rose to nearly 398 parts per million, from 396 ppm in 2013, WMO said.<\/p>\n

The CO2 level fluctuates throughout the year and the monthly average crossed the symbolic 400 ppm threshold in March 2015. The WMO said the annual average \u201cis likely to pass 400 ppm in 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pushed by the burning of coal, oil and gas for energy, global CO2 levels are now 143 percent higher than before the industrial revolution. Scientists say that\u2019s the main driver of global warming.<\/p>\n

WMO said methane levels reached a new high of about 1,833 parts per billion in 2014. About 40 percent of methane emissions come from natural sources and about 60 percent from human activities like cattle breeding, rice agriculture and the extraction of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year we report a new record in greenhouse gas concentrations,\u201d WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said. \u201cWe have to act now to slash greenhouse gas emissions if we are to have a chance to keep the increase in temperatures to manageable levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

World governments are meeting in Paris at the end of this month to craft a new U.N. pact to rein in greenhouse gas emissions. More than 150 countries \u2014 including top greenhouse gas polluters China, U.S., E.U. and India \u2014 have pledged to cut or curb their emissions in the next decade.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, climate change is already transforming the Earth, melting Arctic sea ice, intensifying heat waves and warming and acidifying the ocean.<\/p>\n

Climate scientists say if global warming continues unabated, its dangerous effects could include the flooding of coastal cities and island nations, disruptions to agriculture and drinking water, the spread of diseases and the extinction of species.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re already seeing large impacts all around the world \u2014 a third global coral reef bleaching event, the triggering of irreversible loss of ice from the West Antarctic ice sheet, and extraordinary storms and heat waves,\u201d said Bill Hare, the head of the Berlin-based Climate Analytics research group. \u201cWorld leaders need to see this as a massive wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STOCKHOLM \u2014 This year is on track to be a record 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the 19th-century average, hitting a symbolic milestone in the temperature rise that scientists blame mostly on human activities, Britain\u2019s weather service said Monday. To measure global warming, scientists compare today\u2019s temperature level with that of the latter part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":3886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-3885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3885"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}