‘Climate breakdown has begun’: Earth’s hottest three-month span

More global heat records are being broken, with June, July and August measured as the hottest ever consecutive months, prompting United Nations Secretary General António Guterres to warn that a climate breakdown has begun.

The United Nations’ chief climate body, the World Meteorological Organisation, has released data showing that August was the second-hottest month in history, following July last year.

The hottest three months back-to-back have been recorded this year, with experts worried the era of climate breakdown has begun.Credit: AP

“Our planet has just endured a season of simmering, the hottest summer on record. Climate breakdown has begun.” Guterres said.

“Scientists have long warned what our fossil fuel addiction will unleash. Surging temperatures demand a surge in action. Leaders must turn up the heat now for climate solutions. We can still avoid the worst of climate chaos, and we don’t have a moment to lose.”

So far, this year is the second-warmest on record behind 2016, when the Great Barrier Reef experienced some of the worst coral bleaching and global temperatures soared during an El Nino event.

The Bureau of Meteorology is yet to declare an El Nino event is under way, although other international weather agencies, who have different El Nino criteria, have already announced one.

But whether one is declared or not, Australia will likely experience above-average temperatures this year, increasing the risk of fires.

Director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at Australian National University Professor Hilary Bambrick said climate change had turned up the temperature on extreme heat.

“It’s going to get worse, but we can choose to limit how much worse it gets by cutting fossil fuel use. We can’t keep stoking the fire if we want the room to cool down,” she said.

“This is a warning for Australia. The memories of Black Summer are still fresh in our minds, including that intense and prolonged exposure to bushfire smoke.”

The UN data also said August recorded the highest global monthly average sea surface temperatures ever at 20.98 degrees, breaking the previous record set in March 2016.

One factor that has particularly concerned scientists is the record low Antarctic sea ice extent – the lowest negative anomaly for August since satellite observations began in the late 1970s.

The loss of sea ice coverage is concerning because it helps to reflect heat. Without ice cover, more heat is absorbed by the oceans, speeding up the rate at which they warm. As temperatures rise in the poles, winter conditions can change in nearby regions, causing more extreme weather events.

It comes after back-to-back low sea-ice coverage, which has resulted in almost no emperor penguin chicks surviving in parts of Antarctica during the summer of 2022.

Meanwhile, Arctic sea ice extent is low, but well above the record minimum of August 2012.

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