Global Warming Is Speeding Up and the World Is Feeling the Effects

The United States is experiencing a record-breaking heat wave, with Alaska issuing its first-ever heat advisory this month. This comes after 2024, the hottest calendar year in recorded history, and is part of a larger trend of rapid global warming. A recent report found that human-caused global warming is increasing by 0.27 degrees Celsius per decade, up from 0.2 degrees in the 1970s. Climate scientist Daniel Swain notes that each additional degree of warming brings about a larger increase in atmospheric extremes like downpours, droughts, and wildfires. The severity of these events may feel sudden to those who experience them, but it aligns with scientific predictions of how climate change intensifies such events. The relationship between warming and extremes was less dramatic in the past, but growing evidence suggests that the most extreme events will increase faster and to a greater extent than previously thought. For example, extreme rainfall is intensifying at a rate of 7 percent with each degree Celsius of warming, but record-shattering events are increasing at double that rate. The rapid increase in global warming is leading to more frequent and severe atmospheric extremes. The world is getting hotter, faster, and the consequences are becoming more apparent. As the planet continues to warm, the frequency and severity of extreme weather events are likely to continue to increase.