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Why Were 2023 and 2024 So Hot?

Union of Concerned Scientists

The year 2023 was by far the warmest in Earths recorded history, and perhaps in the past 100,000 years , shattering the previous record set in 2016 by 0.27C (0.49F). Over the last few decades, there has been an observed decrease in total planetary cloud cover , especially over the North Atlantic Ocean off the Northeast US coast.

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​​The Science Behind Sea Level Rise: How Past Emissions Will Shape Our Future

Union of Concerned Scientists

Because of the way the climate and ocean systems respond to heat-trapping emissions, sea levels will continue to rise even after air temperatures stabilize. So, even in a future scenario where the world achieves the stabilization of air temperatures, the Earths oceans and cryosphere (frozen regions like Antarctica ) will continue to adjust.

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Not just another dot on the graph?

Real Climate

First, it’s been obvious for months that 2023 would be a record year – in temperatures (at the surface, troposphere and in the ocean), in Antarctic sea ice, in the number of big climate disasters etc. Ongoing issues Last year at this time, I discussed ongoing work to understand trends in the Southern Ocean. Why oh why?

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WMO: Update on 2023/4 Anomalies

Real Climate

As you can see though, the size of the residual for 2023 was comparable to 2016 and 1998 (years that started with large El Nio events), and 2024 had the highest residual in decades despite the recent El Nio only being a moderate event. Allan, and C.J. 044002, 2025. Terhaar, F.A. Frlicher, and T.F.

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New misguided interpretations of the greenhouse effect from William Kininmonth

Real Climate

It is easier to deal with the balance at the top of the atmosphere or use a simplified description that includes convection and radiation as discussed here previously on RealClimate and presented in Benestad (2016). 679-688, 2016. Focusing on the tropics easily gives too high values ​​for water vapour if applied to the whole planet.

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Back to basics

Real Climate

Maine which provides a nice front end to the NOAA NCEP CFS forecast system and reanalysis and shows absolute daily temperatures in early July clearly exceeding the highest pre-existing temperatures from August 2016. It’s an arresting graphic, and follows in from the record high ocean surface temperatures that were being reported a month ago.

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Meet the Idiomysis Shrimp, the Social Butterfly of the Ocean

Ocean Conservancy

These delightful beings can be found from the warm, shallow waters of the Indian Ocean (including the Red Sea) to the Pacific Ocean. diadema (2016), I. The post Meet the Idiomysis Shrimp, the Social Butterfly of the Ocean appeared first on Ocean Conservancy. That means they are less than one centimeter in length !

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