Climate Agency: 2023 Broke Global Heat Record

2024-01-10 12:05:03来源：网络

Climate Agency: 2023 Broke Global Heat Record

气候机构：2023年打破全球热度记录

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　　By Dan Friedell

　　09 January 2024

　　Copernicus, the European climate agency, says 2023 broke records for global warmth.

　　The average temperature for the year was 1.48 degrees Celsius above the world's pre-industrial temperature.

　　World climate experts agree that an average increase up to 1.5 degrees or higher could lead to extreme climate disasters. They set the 1.5 degree Celsius mark at a 2015 climate conference in Paris.

　　However, January 2024 is measuring so warm that it is likely to average at or beyond the 1.5 mark for the month, says Samantha Burgess. She is Deputy Director of Copernicus. Scientists have repeatedly said an average of 1.5 degrees of warming over as much as thirty years would violate the limit.

　　The 1.5 degree goal "has to be (kept) alive because lives are at risk and choices have to be made," Burgess said.

　　The record heat made life difficult and sometimes deadly in Europe, North America and China, among other places. Climate scientists say heat is not the only problem related to temperature rise. They say severe weather events such as heavy rains that cause flooding, along with wildfires and extreme dry conditions are connected to the rising temperatures.

　　For the first time, nations meeting on climate late in 2023 agreed that the world needs to move away from polluting fossil fuels.

　　Copernicus said the average temperature in 2023 was one-sixth of a degree Celsius above the past record, set in 2016. The average temperature was 14.98 degrees Celsius.

　　"It was record-breaking for seven months. We had the warmest June, July, August, September, October, November, December," Burgess said. "It wasn't just a season or a month that was exceptional. It was exceptional for over half the year."

　　Malte Meinshausen is a climate scientist at the University of Melbourne in Australia. He says about 1.3 degrees Celsius of the warming comes from greenhouse gases, with another 0.1 degrees from usual weather conditions such as El Nino.

　　Copernicus records only go back to 1940. Other organizations will announce climate reports for 2023 on Friday. The groups include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the U.S. and Great Britain's Meteorological Office.

　　While some national weather offices only have records going back to the 1940s, many scientists agree that this is the warmest period for the Earth in over 100,000 years.

　　Copernicus said there were two and nearly three days in 2023 where the world's average temperature was at least 2 degrees above that of the pre-industrial period. In addition, for more than half the year, the world average temperature was 1.5 degrees warmer than in the mid-1800s.

　　I'm Dan Friedell.

　　Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press.

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　　作者：Dan Friedell

　　日期：2024年1月9日

　　欧洲气候机构哥白尼宣布，2023年打破了全球温度记录。

　　全年的平均温度比世界工业化前的温度高出1.48摄氏度。

　　全球气候专家一致认为，平均温度上升到1.5摄氏度或更高可能导致极端的气候灾难。他们在2015年巴黎的气候会议上设定了1.5摄氏度的标准。

　　然而，哥白尼副主任萨曼莎·伯吉斯表示，2024年1月的温度如此之高，很可能使该月的平均温度达到或超过1.5摄氏度。科学家们反复表示，如果在长达30年的时间里，平均温度升高1.5摄氏度，将违反这个限制。

　　伯吉斯说，1.5摄氏度的目标“必须保持，因为人们的生命处于危险之中，必须做出选择。”

　　创纪录的高温使欧洲、北美和中国等地的生活变得困难，有时甚至是致命的。气候科学家表示，热度并不是与温度上升相关的唯一问题。他们说，如暴雨引发的洪水、野火和极端干旱等严重的天气事件都与温度上升有关。

　　2023年底，各国在气候问题上的会议上首次达成一致，认为世界需要远离污染性的化石燃料。