Scientists are reporting something we already knew …that this summer was the hottest on record.
June to August was the ‘planet’s warmest such period since records began in 1940’, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
“The dog days of summer are not just barking, they are biting,” said António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, in a statement about the Copernicus data. “Scientists have long warned what our fossil fuel addiction will unleash. Our climate is imploding faster than we can cope with extreme weather events hitting every corner of the planet”
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus said the summer had been one of tumbling records and it would only get worse if the world continues to burn planet-heating fossil fuels.
“The scientific evidence is overwhelming – we will continue to see more climate records and more intense and frequent extreme weather events impacting society and ecosystems, until we stop emitting greenhouse gases,” she said in a statement.
Sound the alarm bells.