2023 is smashing global heat records. Chinese experts are even more worried about 2024
- A rising global average surface temperature will mean more stifling hot days, and more frequent extreme weather, researchers say
- New findings add fresh urgency to avoid tipping point that makes forecasting weather and climate patterns much more complex
Scientists at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou have warned that drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are needed to avoid reaching a climate tipping point, when the systems that balance and circulate energy and heat on Earth collapse, upending existing climate patterns.
The researchers based their findings on the China global Merged Surface Temperature data set, which they developed using global land surface air temperature data from 1850 to 2023. The data set integrated new findings from several countries and regions over the past decade.
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July 2023 expected to be world’s hottest month in recorded history
The data set showed the global average surface temperature in the first half of this year reached its third warmest since records began, behind only 2016 and 2020.