Climate change and its effects have been a hot topic lately, and rightly so: records have been broken for the last 30 years . With the rise of the internet and social media, humanity is better informed than ever, so these issues commonly come up in conversations.
The year 2016 was one of the warmest since records began 137 years ago , and the third consecutive warmest, according to the State of the Climate annual report, compiled with contributions from more than 450 scientists from nearly 60 countries.
The most important effects and natural disasters of the year were the following:
- Higher concentration of greenhouse gases: Last year, carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations were 402.9 parts per million (ppm), 3.5ppm higher than in 2015. It was also the largest increase observed in 58 years.
- Increase in average temperature: Partly aided by the El Niño phenomenon, the average temperature was between 0,45 and 0,56 degrees Celsius above the 1981-2010 average. If you are interested in this phenomenon, see our post on differences between climate change and global warming.
- Increase in the average temperature of the oceanic surface: the average temperature increased between 0,36 and 0,41 degrees Celsius, thus surpassing the 2015 record by 0,02-0,05ºC.
- Sea level rise was the highest on record: The global average sea level rose by 82mm in 2016. This was the highest rise observed since records began in 1993. This increase can be linked to the sea ​​level rise.
- There were more tropical cyclones: In total, there were 93. The 1981-2010 average was 82. The North Atlantic and the eastern and western Pacific experienced higher activity.
- The Arctic continues to melt: The maximum extent of Arctic sea ice during March last year was the smallest observed by satellite in the last 37 years.
Image - NOAA
If you want to know more about the origin of global warming , click here.
