The global average temperature for July this year was the highest so far measured in any month – 16.95 degrees, according to the EU’s climate service Copernicus. And it’s a real slap in the face for the climate, says TV4 Nyhetern’s science reporter Anneli Megner Arn.
Are we sure it’s climate change?
Yes. That’s the short answer to that question. You really only have to look at how this year’s curve differs from previous years to understand how unlikely it would be that this would have happened without us influencing the climate.
Why is it serious that the ocean is warming?
A warmer ocean is a major threat to aquatic ecosystems. Algal blooms and dead corals are effects we already know about. And now we are really starting to reach the temperatures where more and more corals can no longer survive. But a warm sea also means a lack of oxygen, because warm water does not bind as much oxygen.
We have already reached a critical situation in the layer of the sea where most fish live. The effect is that the fish suffocate or have to try to swim to colder water. This will of course have consequences for fishing, especially in tropical waters.
Even the small critters that live on the bottom, such as insects, snails and clams, will die out in more places. In the Baltic Sea, for example, the oxygen-free bottoms spread out. And when the oxygen runs out, hydrogen sulphide is formed instead, which makes the environment toxic and even more harmful to wildlife – a self-playing piano.
What does this mean for the possibility of reaching the Paris target of 1.5 degrees?
A little pointedly, you can say that we have just missed the target because the air temperature during July was just 1.5 degrees warmer than the average between the years 1850 and 1900. Then it is a little unclear what is meant by the world having to stay below 1.5 degrees of warming .
Some believe that it may be okay to end up over for a few years and then lower the temperature. But to lower the temperature, the earth as a whole must have NEGATIVE carbon dioxide emissions. For example, we would have to pump carbon dioxide from biofuels into the bedrock on a large scale. Something we are very far from now that global emissions continue to increase.