Scientists: Respite from scorching heat next year
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THE Earth is likely to get some relief in 2017 from record scorching temperatures that bolstered governments’ resolve last year in reaching a deal to combat climate change, scientists said yesterday.
July was the hottest single month since records began in the 19th century, driven by greenhouse gases and an El Nino event warming the Pacific. And NASA this week cited a 99 percent chance that 2016 will be the warmest year, ahead of 2015 and 2014.
But a new annual record is unlikely in 2017 since the effect of El Nino — a phenomenon that warms the eastern Pacific and can disrupt weather patterns worldwide every two-seven years — is fading.
“Next year is probably going to be cooler than 2016,” said Phil Jones of the Climatic Research Unit at Britain’s University of East Anglia. He added there was no sign of a strong La Nina, El Nino’s opposite that can cool the planet.
“If 2017 is cooler, there will probably be some climate sceptics surfing on this information,” said Jean-Noel Thepaut, head of the Copernicus Climate Change Service at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. “The long-term trend is towards warming but there is natural variability so there are ups and downs. The scientific community will have again to explain what is happening.”
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