Latest news with #SamanthaBurgess
Sinar Daily
18-05-2025
- Science
- Sinar Daily
Global temperatures stuck at near-record highs in April
PARIS - Global temperatures were stuck at near-record highs in April, the EU's climate monitor said recently, extending an unprecedented heat streak and raising questions about how quickly the world might be warming. The extraordinary heat spell was expected to subside as warmer El Nino conditions faded last year, but temperatures have stubbornly remained at record or near-record levels well into this year. "And then comes 2025, when we should be settling back, and instead we are remaining at this accelerated step-change in warming," said Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "And we seem to be stuck there. What this is caused (by) -- what is explaining it -- is not entirely resolved, but it's a very worrying sign," he told AFP. In its latest bulletin, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said that April was the second-hottest in its dataset, which draws on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations. All but one of the last 22 months exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement, beyond which major and lasting climate and environmental changes become more likely. Missed target Many scientists believe this target is no longer attainable and will be crossed in a matter of years. A large study by dozens of pre-eminent climate scientists, which has not yet been peer reviewed, recently concluded that global warming reached 1.36C in 2024. Copernicus puts the current figure at 1.39C and projects 1.5C could be reached in mid 2029 or sooner based on the warming trend over the last 30 years. "Now it's in four years' time. The reality is we will exceed 1.5 degrees," said Samantha Burgess of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which runs Copernicus. "The critical thing is to then not latch onto two degrees, but to focus on 1.51," the climate scientist told AFP. Julien Cattiaux, a climate scientist at the French research institute CNRS, said 1.5C "would be beaten before 2030" but that was not a reason to give up. "It's true that the figures we're giving are alarming: the current rate of warming is high. They say every 10th of a degree counts, but right now, they're passing quickly," he told AFP. "Despite everything, we mustn't let that hinder action." 'Exceptional' Scientists are unanimous that burning fossil fuels has largely driven long-term global warming that has made extreme weather disasters more frequent and intense. But they are less certain about what else might have contributed to this persistent heat event. Experts think changes in global cloud patterns, airborne pollution and Earth's ability to store carbon in natural sinks like forests and oceans, could be factors also contributing to the planet overheating. The surge pushed 2023 and then 2024 to become the hottest years on record, with 2025 tipped to be third. "The last two years... have been exceptional," said Burgess. "They're still within the boundary -- or the envelope -- of what climate models predicted we could be in right now. But we're at the upper end of that envelope." She said that "the current rate of warming has accelerated but whether that's true over the long term, I'm not comfortable saying that", adding that more data was needed. Copernicus records go back to 1940 but other sources of climate data -- such as ice cores, tree rings and coral skeletons -- allow scientists to expand their conclusions using evidence from much further into the past. Scientists say the current period is likely to be the warmest the Earth has been for the last 125,000 years. - AFP
Leader Live
08-05-2025
- Science
- Leader Live
Temperatures remain above 1.5C threshold after second hottest April on record
April 2025 was 0.6C above the 1991-2020 average for the month and 1.51C above pre-industrial levels, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). This makes it the 21st month in the last 22 months for which the global average surface air temperature was more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial level. The analysis, which used billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world, also found the last 12-month period, from May 2024 to April 2025, was 1.58C above the pre-industrial level, the estimated 1850-1900 level which is used to define the pre-industrial era. It comes despite the emergence of the 'La Nina' pattern in the Pacific which temporarily cools global temperatures. The data also shows sea surface temperatures outside the polar regions averaged 20.89C, making it the second hottest April for the seas after last year's record. Temperatures were predominantly above average across Europe, with the largest warm anomalies recorded over eastern Europe, western Russia, Kazakhstan and Norway. The average temperature over land was 9.38C, which is some 1.01C above the 1991-2020 average for April, making it the sixth warmest April for Europe. They were also mostly above average over the Russian Far East, in a large part of west-central Asia, over most of North America, part of Australia, and across the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica. However, southern South America, eastern Canada in the Great Lakes region and over the Hudson Bay, across north-eastern Greenland and Svalbard, over northern Australia and east Antarctica all saw most temperatures below average. Elsewhere, Arctic sea ice extent was 3% below average, the sixth lowest monthly extent for April in the 47-year satellite record, following four months with record low monthly values for the time of year. Antarctic sea ice extent was 10% below average, making it the 10th lowest on record for the month. Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts which runs C3S, said: 'Globally, April 2025 was the second hottest April on record, continuing the long sequence of months over 1.5C above pre-industrial. 'Continuous climate monitoring is an essential tool for understanding and responding to the ongoing changes of our climate system.'
eNCA
08-05-2025
- Science
- eNCA
Global temperatures stuck at near-record highs in April: EU monitor
Global temperatures were stuck at near-record highs in April, the EU's climate monitor said on Thursday, extending an unprecedented heat streak and raising questions about how quickly the world might be warming. The extraordinary heat spell was expected to subside as warmer El Nino conditions faded last year, but temperatures have stubbornly remained at record or near-record levels well into this year. "And then comes 2025, when we should be settling back, and instead we are remaining at this accelerated step-change in warming," said Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "And we seem to be stuck there. What this is caused (by) -- what is explaining it -- is not entirely resolved, but it's a very worrying sign," he told AFP. In its latest bulletin, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said that April was the second-hottest in its dataset, which draws on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations. All but one of the last 22 months exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement, beyond which major and lasting climate and environmental changes become more likely. - Missed target - Many scientists believe this target is no longer attainable and will be crossed in a matter of years. A large study by dozens of pre-eminent climate scientists, which has not yet been peer reviewed, recently concluded that global warming reached 1.36C in 2024. Copernicus puts the current figure at 1.39C and projects 1.5C could be reached in mid 2029 or sooner based on the warming trend over the last 30 years. "Now it's in four years' time. The reality is we will exceed 1.5 degrees," said Samantha Burgess of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which runs Copernicus. "The critical thing is to then not latch onto two degrees, but to focus on 1.51," the climate scientist told AFP. Julien Cattiaux, a climate scientist at the French research institute CNRS, said 1.5C "would be beaten before 2030" but that was not a reason to give up. "It's true that the figures we're giving are alarming: the current rate of warming is high. They say every 10th of a degree counts, but right now, they're passing quickly," he told AFP. "Despite everything, we mustn't let that hinder action." - 'Exceptional' - Scientists are unanimous that burning fossil fuels has largely driven long-term global warming that has made extreme weather disasters more frequent and intense. But they are less certain about what else might have contributed to this persistent heat event. Experts think changes in global cloud patterns, airborne pollution and Earth's ability to store carbon in natural sinks like forests and oceans, could be factors also contributing to the planet overheating. The surge pushed 2023 and then 2024 to become the hottest years on record, with 2025 tipped to be third. "The last two years... have been exceptional," said Burgess. "They're still within the boundary -- or the envelope -- of what climate models predicted we could be in right now. But we're at the upper end of that envelope." She said that "the current rate of warming has accelerated but whether that's true over the long term, I'm not comfortable saying that", adding that more data was needed. Copernicus records go back to 1940 but other sources of climate data -- such as ice cores, tree rings and coral skeletons -- allow scientists to expand their conclusions using evidence from much further into the past. Scientists say the current period is likely to be the warmest the Earth has been for the last 125,000 years. By Nick Perry And Benjamin Legendre
L'Orient-Le Jour
08-05-2025
- Science
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Global temperatures remain above 1.5°C
Global temperatures remained at historically high levels in April, continuing a nearly two-year streak of unprecedented heat on the planet, which is stirring the scientific community regarding the pace of global warming. Globally, April 2025 is ranked the second warmest after April 2024, according to the European observatory Copernicus, which bases its data on billions of measurements from satellites, weather stations, and other tools. Last month extends an uninterrupted series of record or near-record temperatures that has lasted since July 2023, soon approaching two years. Since then, with one exception, every month has been at least 1.5°C hotter than the pre-industrial era average (1850-1900). Many scientists had anticipated that the 2023-2024 period — the two hottest years ever measured globally — would be followed by a respite when the warmer conditions of the El Nino phenomenon would fade. "With 2025, it should have settled down, but instead, we remain in this phase of accelerated warming," said Johan Rockström, director at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. "It seems that we are stuck here" and "what explains this is not entirely resolved, but it's a very worrying sign," he told AFP. The past two years "have been exceptional," Samantha Burgess from the European center operating Copernicus told AFP. "They remain within the range that climate models predicted for today, but we are at the top of the range." One explanation is that the La Nina phenomenon, the opposite of El Nino and synonymous with cooling influence, has turned out to be only "weak in intensity" since December, according to the World Meteorological Organization, and could already decline in the coming months. Almost 1.4°C already A group of about fifty renowned climatologists, led by Briton Piers Forster, estimate that the climate was already warmed by an average of 1.36°C in 2024. This is the conclusion of a preliminary version of their study that annually updates the key figures from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the climate experts mandated by the UN. Copernicus has a current estimate very close to that, at 1.39°C. The 1.5°C warming threshold, the most ambitious of the Paris Agreement, is on the verge of being reached in a stabilized way, calculated over several decades, many scientists estimate. Copernicus believes that this could be the case by 2029. "That's in four years. The reality is that we are going to exceed 1.5°C," says Samantha Burgess. "At the current pace, the 1.5°C will be surpassed before 2030," also estimates Julien Cattiaux, a climatologist at the CNRS contacted by AFP. "It is said that every tenth of a degree counts," as it multiplies droughts, heatwaves, and other weather catastrophes "but currently, they are happening fast," the scientist warns. But "now, what we must try to do, is to have global warming as close as possible" to the initial target because "it's not the same if we target a climate warmed by 2°C at the end of the century or by 4°C," he recalls. That the burning of fossil fuels — coal, oil, and gas — is responsible for the bulk of the warming is not debated among climatologists. But discussions and studies are multiplying to quantify the climatic influence of changes in clouds, a decrease in air pollution, or the Earth's ability to store carbon in natural sinks such as forests and oceans. Annual records of global temperatures go back to 1850. But ice cores, ocean floor sediments, and other "climate archives" establish that the current climate is unprecedented for at least 120,000 years.
Axios
08-05-2025
- Science
- Axios
April temperatures continue Earth's warm 2025
Earth just had its second-warmest April in temperature records that date back to the 1800s, trailing only last year, per the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Why it matters: These monthly analyses offer fresh signs of a warming planet from one of the major stewards of global climate data. With four months of data in, climate scientist Zeke Hausfather posted that 2025 is likely to be the world's second-warmest on record. Driving the news: Last month was 1.51°C above the estimated 1850-1900 average that Copernicus uses to define the pre-industrial era, per the comprehensive ERA5 dataset they use. And it was the 21st month in the last 22 months with average air temperatures was more than 1.5°C — a key Paris Agreement benchmark — above that era. The bottom line:"Continuous climate monitoring is an essential tool for understanding and responding to the ongoing changes of our climate system," said Samantha Burgess, a top Copernicus official, in a statement.
