Scientists Used Clues Hidden Deep In The Trunks Of Ancient Trees To Find Out That Last Year Was The Hottest Summer In 2,000 Years
Hidden deep in the trunks of ancient trees were clues scientists used to find out that last year was the hottest summer the Northern Hemisphere has experienced in the past 2,000 years. The new study is detailed in the journal Nature.
Previous research had already confirmed that due to climate change, temperatures in 2023 were the warmest out of all the other years on record, at least since the mid-19th century.
But now, the latest study involving the analysis of tree ring data has revealed that last summer was hotter than any summer dating back to 1 C.E.
In recent decades, global temperatures have been rising rapidly as a result of human activity that releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Last year, the high temperatures were amplified by El Niño, a climate pattern that refers to a warming of the surface of the ocean in the Pacific.
During the summer of 2023, scorching heat waves swept across the Northern Hemisphere. In August, temperatures climbed up to 116.2 degrees Fahrenheit in Valencia, Spain.
The island of Sicily got as hot as 119.8 degrees, while Phoenix, Arizona, reached 110 degrees on 54 days.
Several organizations, including NASA, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced that 2023 was the hottest summer in recorded history.
For the new analysis, scientists investigated the climate of an area that stretched from just south of Cairo, Egypt, all the way to the North Pole during the months of June to August.
potowizard – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
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They found that in 2023, temperatures were 2.07 degrees Celsius warmer than the average temperatures from the pre-industrial period of 1850 to 1900.
They also used tree ring data from the Northern Hemisphere to compare the summer of 2023 to summers dating back to 1 C.E. During warmer periods, tree rings will grow wider.
Their analysis showed that in 2023, temperatures were 2.20 degrees Celsius warmer than the average from 1 C.E. to 1890.
When compared to the coldest summer on record, which occurred in 536 C.E., the summer of 2023 was a whole 3.93 degrees Celsius warmer.
The most recent El Niño episode has continued into 2024, so scientists expect its influence to extend into this summer as well, which may make 2024 break last year’s records.
The study’s authors say the main takeaway from their work is that greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced significantly.
“The longer we wait, the more expensive it will be and the more difficult it will be to mitigate or even stop that process and reverse it,” Jan Esper, the study’s lead author and a professor at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, said.
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