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Currently in Philadelphia — September 14, 2023: A great night for stargazing
Plus, Earth now on track to breach 1.5°C this year.
Eric Holthaus & Abe Musselman
September 14, 2023
The weather, currently.
A great night for stargazing
The clouds are gone for now, and there’s no rain predicted for the immediate future, so now might be a good time to wipe down your roof-deck furniture. Today will be sunny and less humid than the past few days, with temperatures topping out at a comfortable 76˚F. Cloud cover is predicted to be 0% or something close to it. Skies will remain clear well into the night, and the heat index will be in the mid-60s until midnight, so if you want to do some stargazing, you can probably get away with not bringing along an extra layer.
— Abe Musselman
What you need to know, currently.
The latest checkup on 2023’s expected annual temperature has come in hot.
According to the August numbers from Berkeley Earth, there’s now a greater than 99% chance that this year ends as the hottest year in recorded history. Even more worryingly, there’s also now a 55% chance that 2023 will be the first year to top the 1.5°C threshold — eclipsing the mark set out by the world as a line in the sand at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.
Between the strengthening El Niño and the recent record warmth, the global average in 2023 is on pace to become the warmest year ever directly measured.
There is now even a significant chance (~55%) that temperatures in 2023 exceed the 1.5 °C threshold.
berkeleyearth.org/august-2023-te…
— Dr. Robert Rohde (@RARohde)
1:29 PM • Sep 13, 2023
From Berkeley Earth:
The surprisingly strong warming in June, July and August 2023, combined with the likelihood of a strong El Niño event, have increased the forecast for the rest of 2023.
Prior to the start of 2023, the likelihood of a 1.5 °C annual average this year was estimated at <1%. The fact that this forecast has shifted so greatly serves to underscore the extraordinarily progression of the last few months, whose warmth has far exceeded expectations.
Breaching the 1.5°C threshold would further lock in irreversible changes in the Earth’s land, ocean, ice, biosphere and atmosphere and underscores the need to continue ramping up pressure on governments and people in power to rapidly transition our economy to stop using fossil fuels. Read more at Berkeley Earth.
What you can do, currently.
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