The climate just got its annual checkup, and the results aren’t looking so hot.
“If Earth were a patient coming in for an annual physical, I would say its condition is serious and getting worse,” Oregon State University researcher Bill Ripple says.
Ripple is the lead author of a new paper chronicling the state of the climate, published on Wednesday in BioScience. The findings show that seven of the 16 planetary vital signs tracked by the researchers have never been in a more extreme state.
That includes the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is 50 percent higher than preindustrial levels due to burning fossil fuels, as well as symptoms of burning all that oil, coal, and gas. Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have shrunk to record lows, while ocean heat has soared to record highs.
Climate change has already quickened the pace of warming from about 0.05 degrees Celsius per decade from 1880 through 1970 to 0.36 degrees Celsius per decade since 2010, according to the analysis. While the global average temperature, including land, isn’t at a record extreme, that may change by the end of the year as El Niño strengthens. The natural climate pattern is characterized by a hotter-than-normal Pacific Ocean, but it also boosts global heat levels by pouring more energy into the atmosphere. This year’s El Niño is shaping up to be one for the record books.
“A strong El Niño could temporarily push global temperatures even higher, while bringing additional heat and drought to vulnerable regions,” says Ripple.
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