Monday, July 22, Was the Hottest Day Ever Recorded
A new record for the highest average temperature ever recorded was broken recently on July 22. After 13 consecutive months of temperatures never before seen, we hit a new troubling milestone, clearly showing the dangerous effect we continue to have on our planet due to climate change. This is only the newest average high, and we are expected to continue breaking temperature records in the coming months and years.
Paleoclimate scientists, who study the Earth’s climate history, conducted research to see exactly when these temperatures were possible over different geologic periods of time. They used ancient material like tree rings, lake sediments, and ice cores to learn more about the climate of past environments. They concluded that, at the very least during this last geologic timespan, which is 6,000 years, these temperatures simply would not have been possible. While these temperatures have existed before, scientists have no doubt that this is the first time that humans have caused it.
Moreover, the rapid increase in global temperatures has caused wildfires in the western region of the U.S. to burn wildly out of control, and it seems to be getting worse as each year passes. Just recently on July 24, there were another set of wildfires that continue to spread, causing mass evacuations in many zones; these fires remain merely 3% contained as of this writing. People in the affected areas fear there will be another incident like the deadly Camp fire, which destroyed the majority of the town of Paradise, California and displaced thousands who were forced to abandon their homes.
While California has dealt with these fires for decades, it is a more recent development for Oregon and Washington to experience extreme hazardous smoky air from nearby wildfires, now occurring as far north as British Columbia and affecting all of nearby Washington state. It has now become normal for cities to have to adapt during wildfire seasons, with many people unable to go to work while residents more susceptible to breathing and other health issues are unable to leave their homes at all.
These wildfires are exacerbated by the constant triple-digit temperatures on the West coast. While these temperatures have long been normal in Northern California especially, this was hardly seen in Oregon and Washington in decades past—now they occur every summer. The Pacific Northwest was previously the best place to escape in the summer thanks to its usual colder and rainy climate, but now residents have to contend with temperatures that sometimes rival those of Northern California. Snowy periods during the winter season have shortened with each passing year, much like many other U.S. states that previously had months of snow just a couple of decades ago.
Everyone will have to continue to adapt to these record high temperatures and we can unfortunately expect to keep breaking records every year. Earth is now at risk of hitting 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, failing to abide by the 2015 Paris Agreement. Either way, high temperatures will continue to be the new normal across the country.
