New data published by German scientists show that since 2015, global temperatures on our planet have been rising faster than in any decade before. And this is not due to natural factors.
Global warming
For many years, there has been debate about whether global warming caused by human activity is occurring on our planet. New data collected by various systems has enabled the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research to establish not only that it is real, but also that it is now happening faster than ever before.
Over the past 10 years, the estimated warming rate has been around 0.35°C per decade, depending on the dataset, compared with just under 0.2°C per decade on average from 1970 to 2015. This recent rate is higher than in any previous decade since the beginning of instrumental records in 1880.
This statement is based on the analysis of several independent data sets obtained from NASA, NOAA, HadCRUT, Berkeley Earth, and ERA5. Scientists applied two different approaches to them: quadratic trend analysis and a piecewise linear model, which objectively determines the time of any change in the rate of warming. Both approaches show an increase in the rate of warming that began around 2013-2014.
Causes of warming
The authors of the publication do not draw any conclusions about the reasons why warming has accelerated. This is a topic for a separate large-scale study. However, they were able to filter out the influences that could have been caused by El Niño, volcanic eruptions, and other natural factors. They were not the cause of the acceleration.
In any case, the acceleration of global warming is an extremely alarming sign. It means that the 1.5-degree mark, which was the limit according to the Paris Agreement, could be exceeded as early as 2030.
Provided by: phys.org
