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Earth

Earth Had Its 6th-Hottest July and Year To Date On Record (noaa.gov) 180

Posted by BeauHD from the not-what-we-like-to-hear dept.
July 2022 was the world's sixth-hottest July on record, according to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. Last month also saw Earth's sixth-hottest year to date on record as Antarctic sea ice coverage plunged to a record low for a second consecutive month. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports: The July 2022 land and ocean-surface temperature for the globe was 1.57 degrees F (0.87 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average of 60.4 degrees F (15.8 degrees C). This made it the sixth-hottest July in the 143-year global climate record. July marked the 46th-consecutive July and the 451st-consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average. The five warmest Julys on record have all occurred since 2016. Regionally, July 2022 was among the top-10 warmest Julys on record for several continents. North America saw its second-hottest July on record, Asia had its third hottest, South America had its fourth hottest and Europe had its sixth hottest.

The average global land and ocean-surface temperature was the sixth-warmest year to date on record, at 1.55 degrees F (0.86 of a degree C) above average. Asia had its second-hottest such YTD on record with Europe seeing its fifth hottest. Africa, North America and South America all had an above-average YTD, though it did not rank among their top-10 warmest on record. According to NCEI's Global Annual Temperature Rankings Outlook, there is a greater than 99% chance 2022 will rank among the 10-warmest years on record but an 11% chance the year will rank among the top five.
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Earth Had Its 6th-Hottest July and Year To Date On Record More

Earth Had Its 6th-Hottest July and Year To Date On Record

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  • "You're the 6th hottest girl I've met, to date" (Score:3, Funny)

    by bettersheep ( 6768408 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @05:17AM (#62793189)

    Not the most impressive (head) line.

  • Some years ago, back in 2009, Anthony Watts made a splash by pointing out how many surface weather stations were in the middle of parking lots, on roofs, next to vents from air conditioners, or in a whole host of other unsuitable places. Given the embarrassment that caused, one might think that the official weather stations would have been cleaned up.

    Apparently not. He just published the results of a 2022 review of the surface station network. [heartland.org] His conclusion: "After surveying a comprehensive and represent

    • Watts has been debunked over and over again. Heâ(TM)s a crank. Keep up.

      • "Watts has been debunked over and over again."

        Reference? I have never seen a debunking of his climate station survey.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Shrublet ( 10133903 )

          "Watts has been debunked over and over again."

          Reference? I have never seen a debunking of his climate station survey.

          Two minutes googling shows up https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.... [wiley.com]

          From the conclusion

          Given the now extensive documentation by surfacestations.org [Watts, 2009] that the exposure characteristics of many USHCN stations are far from ideal, it is reasonable to question the role that poor exposure may have played in biasing CONUS temperature trends. However, our analysis and the earlier study by Peterson [2006] illustrate the need for data analysis in establishing the role of station exposure characteristics on

    • Re:Depends on the data... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by splutty ( 43475 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @07:12AM (#62793373)

      Literally none of that matters. At all. For comparisons.

      If you have a value of X in a biased location now, and you have a value of Y in the same biased location 10 years later, then the difference between those values is unbiased.

      This is basic high school science.

      So Mr Anthony Watts is disingenuous and almost certainly has an agenda. I don't know, I didn't look him up, but just from what little you posted, it seems extremely obvious.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by bradley13 ( 1118935 )

        "If you have a value of X in a biased location now, and you have a value of Y in the same biased location 10 years later"

        Um, no. Because if you had a station next to an air conditioner 10 years ago, and 5 years ago someone put a parking lot next to it... Cities grow and develop. A lot of these stations are in cities, or airports, or other locations that need weather data - but are unsuitable to collect climate data. Also, many stations have been moved due to development, and the new stations are in diffe

        • Re:Depends on the data... (Score:5, Informative)

          by splutty ( 43475 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @07:59AM (#62793473)

          "The same biased location".

          You do know that biased data is completely normal in all scientific research right? And there have been ways of dealing with that for literally 100's of years?

          If you collect "weather data" from all over the planet, you have a pretty good idea about "climate data"

          These are all known and solved problems. Discarding an analysis because you think the measurements are wrong, without even bothering to see how those measurements are used, is just disingenuous.

          Mind you, not attacking you or anything, just (now that I've looked into this Watts person a little) pointing out that the person you keep quoting is.. Unreliable, to put it nicely. And almost certainly willfully ignorant.

        • However, any "correction" is going to be arbitrary.

          wat

          arbitrary
          adjective
          based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.

          That, sir, is bollocks. In fact, such corrections are based on a system, e.g. Quality control and correction method for air temperature data from a citizen science weather station network in Leuven, Belgium [copernicus.org] (top result for my search "system for correcting for local variance in weather stations" — learn to internet, pal.)

          Just because you can't imagine a useful system for correcti

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Ichijo ( 607641 )

          Debunked. [wiley.com]

    • Re:Depends on the data... (Score:4, Informative)

      by XXongo ( 3986865 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @07:38AM (#62793429) Homepage
      If you scroll up a little, MacMann posted "deniers" complaints aren't about the problem, but about the solution".

      Exactly.

      The "Heartland Institute" is a public policy think tank, not a scientific institution. They don't care about science one way or another, and will say anything they think will affect public policy, regardless of accuracy. They are entirely about the solution, and more to the point, entirely about making sure that the solution is not "let's burn less oil."

      Because they are funded by the oil companies. Who have a trillion dollars at stake in making sure people keep burning oil.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Syberz ( 1170343 )
      Yeah, I'm going to trust scientists before trusting The Heartland Institute. Their "research" is biased, not published and not peer-reviewed.

      For those who don't know, the Heartland Institute is an American conservative and libertarian public policy think tank known for its rejection of both the scientific consensus on climate change and the negative health impacts of smoking.

    • One ironic example: apparently the responsible people in New Orleans are very proud of the placement of their station in the middle of a park. So proud, in fact, that they have put up signs explaining what it is, surrounded it with black iron fence and poured a concrete slab underneath it. So what could have been a really good station is destroyed by the heat effects on the iron fencing and the concrete.

      Well, to be fair...there IS a sno-ball stand just down the block from it.

      If that won't do it for you, t

    • Re:Depends on the data... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Joce640k ( 829181 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @07:50AM (#62793449) Homepage

      Some years ago, back in 2009, Anthony Watts made a splash by pointing out how many surface weather stations were in the middle of parking lots, on roofs, next to vents from air conditioners, or in a whole host of other unsuitable places.

      It's almost as if you fail to understand that it's the change over time that matters, not the absolute values.

      Given the embarrassment that caused, one might think that the official weather stations would have been cleaned up.

      Huh?

      When we say it's "the hottest day since records began" we have to use the same thermometers and locations as before. We wouldn't have valid data if we used different thermometers or moved them somewhere else.

      • You don't have to move a sensor for it to become inaccurate because someone built a parking lot upwind of it or a city has grown up around it over that time.

        During the US eastern heat wave a week back, one of the local neighboring weather underground sensors was reading 120+ F. It was clearly wrong. Hopefully things like that are kicked out of the data pool, or at least things like weather underground are not used for anything serious - there is apparently no way to report a bad weather station to them.

        • You don't have to move a sensor for it to become inaccurate because someone built a parking lot upwind of it or a city has grown up around it over that time.

          True, but what's the alternative? Start from zero somewhere else?

          It's a strawman argument though.

          a) Car parks aren't being built downwind at anything like the rate that the temperature records are being broken.

          b) Climate science isn't based on local thermometers, we've been using satellites to measure global temperatures for decades now and they're all seeing global average temperature rises, not just local rises.

      • Seriously? Have you never heard of UHI? You put a thermometer in a built-up area, and the situation only gets worse. First, the station was next to one building, then it is on asphalt and surrounded by structures.

        You cannot trust data from these stations. At all. Climate data should only be taken from stations that meet the government's own - published - standards.

        It's not that hard to site stations correctly. Why has this not been done, over the last few decades??

    • Some years ago, back in 2009, Anthony Watts made a splash by pointing out how many surface weather stations were in the middle of parking lots, on roofs, next to vents from air conditioners, or in a whole host of other unsuitable places. Given the embarrassment that caused, one might think that the official weather stations would have been cleaned up.

      Climatology isn't the only purpose of weather stations.

      For instance, people often live in cities, and they want to know the weather.

      Apparently not. He just published the results of a 2022 review of the surface station network. [heartland.org] His conclusion: "After surveying
      a comprehensive and representative sample of stations, 96 percent were found to be biased in some way by the
      heat sink effect, or other heat sources."

      Heh, nothing says "unbiased" like a guy whose entire career is based on global warming denialism.

      The whole article is based on the false premise that climatologists are somehow unaware of the urban heat island effect and/or are unable to compensate for it.

      In reality they are aware, and know how to either correct or ignore bad data. It doesn't matter if 99% of sensors were compl

    • One you posted something from the Heartland Institute which is backed by companies that are specifically responsible for climate change. I mean seriously look over their 990 [heartland.org] and let me know if you feel they are "unbiased". My favorite part is:

      Stopping Socialism: Stopping Socialism is a project launched in 2018. Owned by Justin Haskins, co-director of the Socialism Research Center at the Heartland Institute and the Author of the Amazon bestseller "Socialism is Evil: The moral case against Marx's radical dream."

      Which Justin Haskins is a really "FUN" guy, and has one of my favorite books: "The American Book of Prayer: Expanded and Revised", which is a book covering what basically amounts to "Why Christianity rocks and other religions are shit, oh and here's some historical

    • Seems like arguing about what shade the elephant is . . .

      I agree, this "today is hottest" blah blah isn't much but a slow news day. The great part about data is you can OMIT bad items - okay, New Orleans, great. The polar bears aren't messing with the weather stations . . . and other "areas that shouldn't have bias" don't.

      His point is actually a very good case for making a study of where hot spots are and what effect they have on neighboring areas.

      We're behind the curve because the argument that we

  • July is always hot (Score:3, Interesting)

    by magzteel ( 5013587 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @07:13AM (#62793375)

    Nearly every year for as far back as I can remember July is very hot with temperatures in the mid to high 90's for weeks. It's great because it heats up my swimming pool nicely, and it's less great because it increases my energy cost for air conditioning. Then around mid-August the temperature breaks and drops into the high 70's-low 80's, and the trend continues as Labor day approaches. I close my swimming pool Labor day weekend because nobody wants to swim after that.

    This year has gone exactly the same. I just turned off the house a/c and opened the windows because the outside temperature dropped to 60 at nights.

    Sure, I know that's anecdotal. Just saying for this casual observer nothing has changed in decades except now I have a/c to make the summer comfortable where when I was a kid we just had windows.

    • Nearly every year for as far back as I can remember July is very hot with temperatures in the mid to high 90's for weeks. It's great because it heats up my swimming pool nicely, and it's less great because it increases my energy cost for air conditioning. Then around mid-August the temperature breaks and drops into the high 70's-low 80's, and the trend continues as Labor day approaches. I close my swimming pool Labor day weekend because nobody wants to swim after that.

      This year has gone exactly the same.

      • Nearly every year for as far back as I can remember July is very hot with temperatures in the mid to high 90's for weeks. It's great because it heats up my swimming pool nicely, and it's less great because it increases my energy cost for air conditioning. Then around mid-August the temperature breaks and drops into the high 70's-low 80's, and the trend continues as Labor day approaches. I close my swimming pool Labor day weekend because nobody wants to swim after that.

        This year has gone exactly the same. I just turned off the house a/c and opened the windows because the outside temperature dropped to 60 at nights.

        Must be nice...what part of the US do you live?

        Down here in New Orleans...my AC kicks on pretty much full time about early April and doesn't really shut off till maybe early to mid November.

        I won't see a 60F day till maybe near December most years.

        But we do start to get our first breaks in the heat mid Oct...some days in the mid to upper 70's and the humidity starts to drop a bit (for here).

        I do enjoy sitting outside with t-shirt and shorts tending my rotisserie standing rib-roast on the grill for Thanksgiving, while trading pics with friends all bundled up and cold in other parts of the US.

        I've heard it about it recently, but I still have a hard time imagining places with modern houses with no central A/C?!?!?

        I mean, even in old houses, every where I've ever lived they at least had window units...multiples of them.

        I'm in central New Jersey. We have a nice balance of the 4 seasons. Hot summer, cold winter, nice spring and fall. 130 miles of very nice beaches that I can get to easily and visit often. An hour to Manhattan or Philadelphia. The costs suck but I don't know anyplace else.

        Certainly most modern houses generally are built with central HVAC, but there are a lot of older houses. My parent's place in NYC was an 1890 brownstone with oil generated steam heat. Eventually my mom got a window A/C unit.

      • And still, plenty of places around the world this summer with record heat waves that had no A/C, because it's never been that hot before in recorded history.

        Here in Calfornia, most places I lived after leaving the parent's place had no central A/C. It's still considered a luxury. Usually it's apartments or attached condos that don't have them, especially in a place known for a good climate (ie, San Diego, Bay Area). Window units are often banned by an HOA or the landlord. Window units kind of suck anyw

    • Just saying for this casual observer nothing has changed in decades except now I have a/c to make the summer comfortable ...

      wat.

      Nothing has changed except it got hotter.

      Like... that's the main thing...

      • Just saying for this casual observer nothing has changed in decades except now I have a/c to make the summer comfortable ...

        wat.

        Nothing has changed except it got hotter.

        Like... that's the main thing...

        Not to me. This year feels like every other year I have experienced for decades.
        It's been a really nice summer.

        • Not to me. This year feels like every other year I have experienced for decades.

          Except for needing A/C to feel comfortable unlike before.

          IOW there's no difference and it feels like every other year except hotter.

    • And yet, this average was calculated frm readings around the globe, including where it is winter in July. To have a global average that's 1.57F above the average for the 20th century is a lot. While temperature in your area varies a lot, average temperature around the globe is relatively stable. So when scientists say that 1 degree is lot of change that will cause tremendous effects, it's not like the difference between 2pm and 3pm in your backyard and you can't even tell there was a change, instead it's

      • And yet, this average was calculated frm readings around the globe, including where it is winter in July. To have a global average that's 1.57F above the average for the 20th century is a lot. While temperature in your area varies a lot, average temperature around the globe is relatively stable. So when scientists say that 1 degree is lot of change that will cause tremendous effects, it's not like the difference between 2pm and 3pm in your backyard and you can't even tell there was a change, instead it's 1 degree everywhere on average which greatly affects the weather, wind patterns, and so on. Which means more hurricanes, more droughts in places unused to droughts, oceans are warmer so more ice is melting, etc. Climate change isn't about someone's backyard.

        In the last three decade there have been huge changes if you paid attention. Even just the last decade.

        I'm sure there have been many regional changes. But if people don't feel personally negatively affected by them they aren't likely to get worked up about them. I don't know if most people's experience is like mine. I can only say this year to me has so far followed the same pattern as the years preceding. Summer is hot. If anything the occasional cool summer is annoying because it wrecks the beach season. It does extend the riding season though, so it's not all bad.

        How has it felt to you? Does it feel

        • What about England and parts of Europe? Severely unusual drought and heat wave. Pacific Northwest had unusual heat waves this summer, a record breaking year in the US and not in a good way (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_heat_waves_in_2022). If you don't feel any different, then you are lucky. Climate change is real, not a point of view.

          • What about England and parts of Europe? Severely unusual drought and heat wave. Pacific Northwest had unusual heat waves this summer, a record breaking year in the US and not in a good way (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_heat_waves_in_2022). If you don't feel any different, then you are lucky. Climate change is real, not a point of view.

            But what is your *personal* experience? Does it feel like a huge outlier, or business as usual?

    • Nearly every year for as far back as I can remember July is very hot with temperatures in the mid to high 90's for weeks. It's great because it heats up my swimming pool nicely, and it's less great because it increases my energy cost for air conditioning. Then around mid-August the temperature breaks and drops into the high 70's-low 80's, and the trend continues as Labor day approaches. I close my swimming pool Labor day weekend because nobody wants to swim after that.

      This year has gone exactly the same. I just turned off the house a/c and opened the windows because the outside temperature dropped to 60 at nights.

      Sure, I know that's anecdotal. Just saying for this casual observer nothing has changed in decades except now I have a/c to make the summer comfortable where when I was a kid we just had windows.

      Anecdotally, I remember summers being mid to low twenties (Celsius), high twenties being hot, and 30+ being one or two times a year.

      Now, most of the summer seems to be high twenties and 30+ is fairly routine.

      Of course, that's completely anecdotal and I doubt my memory is remotely sensitive enough to pick up temperature changes on the scale of climate change. In reality the average temperature would probably have to go up at least 3C for my memory of past climate to accurately say "oh, this is different". An

  • If only we had 100,000 years worth of factual climate data, then we might see a trend or pattern that could help guide us in our decisions.

  • Every cloud... (Score:3)

    by Pollux ( 102520 ) <speter@[ ]ata.net.eg ['ted' in gap]> on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @07:51AM (#62793453) Journal

    ...has its silver lining.

    All that heat is melting Greenland, which we can now mine to get Nickel & Cobalt to make electric batteries for the green economy! [cnn.com]

    Thanks, global warming!

  • It dawned on me that most are now walking around with a small thing that constantly draws power, unlike ever before. That said, I still think the only solution is limiting future population numbers through fines and fees...we're hot too!

    • It dawned on me that most are now walking around with a small thing that constantly draws power, unlike ever before. That said, I still think the only solution is limiting future population numbers through fines and fees...we're hot too!

      For scale, humans generate 80W [wikipedia.org] and cellphones consume 4W [slate.com] when they are being charged, so less than that averaged over the day.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kackle ( 910159 )
        Plus the towers, their cabling, the servers, all the buildings' power and HVAC for the carriers' employees, the stores that sell phones, the manufacturers and all of their employees and buildings and vehicles to get the to their jobs... Etc., etc., etc.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ichijo ( 607641 )

      I still think the only solution is limiting future population numbers through fines and fees...

      Or just make vasectomies and tubal ligations free, and make sterility (natural or surgical) a disability eligible for benefits even if you continue to work. [wikipedia.org]

  • Expensive (Score:3)

    by Nugoo ( 1794744 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @08:32AM (#62793551)
    If you think it will be expensive to limit our carbon emissions, wait until you see how expensive it will be to do nothing.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Budenny ( 888916 )

      Whose emissions exactly would those be?

      Like, start with 37 billion tons a year at the moment.

      Who exactly do you want to reduce their emissions, and by how much?

      Just give the top 5 or 10.

      Be interesting to see whose emissions it is that have to be reduced. Then we could all get some idea about how to go about making that happen.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by nojayuk ( 567177 )

        Who exactly do you want to reduce their emissions, and by how much? Just give the top 5 or 10.

        Per capita, the US is near the top of the table at about 15 tonnes of CO2 per person each year. China lags well behind at around 11 or 12 tonnes of CO2 per capita -- as an industrialised nation with over four times the population of the US it does emit more CO2 in total but per capita, not as much.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        The simple answer to your question is that it pretty much all needs to be reduced.

        With that said your question is obviously far to complex to answer in a simple internet conversation. It would require a ton of research in regards to the amounts various industries and activities pollute, an exploration of what technologies exist to reduce it and what it might cost in the context of every single industry or activity (because all those costs will be different).

        What I cant tell here is whether you're just obliv

  • "This made it the sixth-hottest July in the 143-year global climate record. " Ummm it has been hotter, it has been cooler...143 years of "data" is NOTHING. Remember in the 90's, the "man made global warming" ice melting up in the Nordic region uncovered an abandoned settlement. Scientist dated it to between 1200-1400. Now, if it was WARM enough to sustain life there, then how did it get so warm? The Sarhara Desert wasn't always a desert you know. Unless "man" sets off a global thermonuclear war, one good

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