A Year of Monthly Temperature Records

Narration: Dr. Kate Calvin

Transcript:

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Hi. My name is Doctor Kate Calvin.

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I'm NASA's Chief Scientist and Senior

Climate Advisor.

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And I'm going to answer

some of the top questions

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that we're getting from users

like you about climate

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This May was the hottest May on record.

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So we've had now 12 consecutive record

breaking months of heat.

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That means for the last year,

every month has been

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the hottest of that month on record.

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so May was the hottest May on record.

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2023 was the hottest year on record.

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We're also seeing other changes

in in ecosystems all around the world.

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So we're seeing changes in precipitation

patterns.

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We see more heavy precipitation

in some regions.

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We see more droughts.

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We're seeing declines in ice,

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both Arctic sea ice as well as changes

in the mass of ice sheets.

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We are seeing increases in sea level

that affect coastal communities

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all around the world,

and we're seeing all of these changes.

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We can observe them through surface

measurements,

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we can see them through satellite

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based measurements, and we can see how the

Earth is changing over time.

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So what

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we mean by that is that May

is the hottest May on record.

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April was the hottest April on record.

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There is still a seasonal cycle.

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But what we're saying is that

that winters are getting hotter

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than anything we've experienced,

that we've recorded before.

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Summers are hotter than what

we've recorded before, and so that each

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individual month is, respectively,

the hottest of that month on record.

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Not necessarily.

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So we're

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seeing an overall trend in warming,

but we might still see individual years

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that are hotter

or cooler than the previous,

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and individual months that are hotter

or cooler than the previous month.

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So we are seeing

an overall trend in warming,

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but that doesn't necessarily mean

every single month will be the hottest.

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El Nino is a natural cycle

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that affects temperatures

and and weather around the world.

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El Nino years

tend to be warmer on average than others.

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La Nina years

tend to be cooler on average.

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But with climate change, what we're seeing

is an overall trend in warming.

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So our La Nina years are also getting

warmer, as well as our El Nino years.

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And so we see an overall trend in warming,

but we're still seeing

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individual years that are warmer

or cooler than the previous year

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because of El Nino and La Nina.

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Well, we know what's

driving the warming on our planet.

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We know it's driven

by increases in greenhouse gases.

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We also know, how to limit warming.

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So we know that by reducing greenhouse

gases we can reduce the rate of warming.

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And there are options available today

that can help us reduce greenhouse gases.

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There's also people all around the world

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that are working to better understand

our planet, and to develop technologies

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and understanding

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that can help us address the changes

that are happening where I live.

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And there's people like you

that are learning about this now

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and can help us in the future.