The seven hottest years ever recorded were the last seven, based on a new report from European Union scientists.The Copernicus Climate Change Service warns that methane in the atmosphere has increased by twice the normal rate.
For those that thought last year was sweatier than usual, the science backs that up.
EU scientists are reporting that last year was the world's fifth hottest on record, while levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere hit new highs in 2021.
Highlights
- Senior Scientist at Copernicus Climate Service Freja Vamborg says weather disasters linked to global warming like wildfires and extreme rainfall are likely to increase.
- Scientists at Copernicus also found for the second year in a row, the growth rate of methane in the atmosphere was twice the normal level - reaching an annual record.
- Researchers say reducing the amount of methane seeping into the air would quickly translate into a slowdown of rising temperatures .
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In a new report, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) says that the last seven years were the world's warmest by a clear margin in records dating back to 1850 and the average global temperature in 2021 was 1.1-1.2 degrees Celsius above 1850-1900 levels.
Richard Betts, Head of Climate Impact Research at the Met Office and Exeter University had a closer look at the findings
"So that data set is one of several data sets monitoring global temperature, and they all agree that the world has warmed over the last century, and they all generally agree that the last few years have been the hottest on record. There might be some nuances for individual years because different data sets use different methods for constructing their average. But it's very clear the last few years have been the hottest on record, and the important thing from this report is that the last seven years in particular, are very substantially warmer than anything previously seen."