WASHINGTON – The annual State of the Climate Report, compiled by more than450 scientists from over 60 countries, describes worsening climateconditions worldwide in 2017, the same year that US President Donald Trumppulled out of the landmark Paris climate deal.
The United States is the world´s second leading polluter after China, buthas rolled back environmental safeguards under Trump, who has declaredclimate change a “Chinese hoax” and exited the Paris deal signed by morethan 190 nations as a path toward curbing harmful emissions.
The 300-page report issued by the American Meteorological Society and theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) mentioned the word”abnormal” a dozen times, referring to storms, droughts, scorchingtemperatures and record low ice cover in the Arctic.
Here are its key findings:
* Greenhouse gas surge*
Last year, the top three most dangerous greenhouse gases released intoEarth´s atmosphere — carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — reachednew record highs.
The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration at the Earth´ssurface climbed to 405 parts per million, “the highest in the modernatmospheric measurement record and in ice core records dating back as faras 800,000 years,” said the report.
“The global growth rate of CO2 has nearly quadrupled since the early 1960s.”
*Heat records*-
The record for hottest year in modern times was set in 2016, but 2017 wasnot far behind, with “much-warmer-than-average conditions” across most ofthe world, it said.
Annual record high temperatures were observed in Argentina, Bulgaria, Spainand Uruguay, while Mexico “broke its annual record for the fourthconsecutive year.”
Smashing more heat records, temperatures reached 110.1 degrees Fahrenheit(43.4 Celsius) on January 27 at Puerto Madryn, Argentina, “the highesttemperature ever recorded so far south anywhere in the world.”
The world´s highest temperature ever for May was observed on May 28 inTurbat, western Pakistan, with a high of 128.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
“The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, with the fourwarmest years occurring since 2014,” said the report.