It is a classification that Humanity would have done well without. The past nine years are among the “top 10” hottest years ever recorded on Earth, and 2021 ranks sixth, according to the annual report of a leading US science agency, released Thursday.
“The nine years from 2013 to 2021 are among the ten hottest years on record,” said the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) in releasing the data, which once again underscores the magnitude of global warming .
1.04°C more recorded on average
And the missing tenth year does not go back far, since it is 2010 (placed in ninth position). This trend had already been highlighted on Monday by the European Earth observation service Copernicus, which had highlighted that the last seven years have been “clearly” the hottest ever recorded.
He had ranked 2021 in fifth place, but it is not uncommon for agencies to have slight differences in their data. According to NOAA, 2021 turns out to be the sixth hottest year since records began in 1880. The average temperature recorded last year was thus 1.04°C higher than the pre-industrial era (1880-1900).
A current trajectory deemed “catastrophic” by the UN
The objective of the Paris agreement is to contain global warming “significantly” below +2°C, and if possible at +1.5°C, compared to the pre-industrial era. But the emission reduction commitments made by the various countries, including those announced at COP26 in November, leave the world on a warming trajectory of 2.7°C, a level described as “catastrophic” by the UN.
The 2021 average was pulled down by the La Nina weather phenomenon, which tends to cool temperatures, NOAA notes. But the agency points out that the average land surface temperature in the northern hemisphere last year was listed as the third highest since 1880.
European and American agencies agree that 2016 remains the hottest year on record. The current global warming, of unprecedented speed and magnitude, is clearly attributable to human activities and in particular to fossil fuels (gas, oil, coal), which have been used massively since the Industrial Revolution.