The year 2017 has become the second warmest since 1880 as the Earth continues to follow a warming trend. As per the scientists of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, 2017 has notoriously taken the second place in being the warmest.
The year 2016 continues to be the warmest year ever recorded. In fact, in the last seven years, which is since 2010, five of the years have been the warmest on record.
The earth’s average surface temperature has risen by about two degrees Fahrenheit in the last century. In fact, 2017 was the third consecutive year wherein global temperatures were about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above the late nineteenth-century levels. However, the heat has not been equally distributed in these regions.
The Arctic has warmed the most which has resulted in the loss of ice thereby causing the rise in sea levels. The loss of sea ice continued in the year 2017 as well.
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When it comes to the change in temperatures across the globe, the Oceans are the driving forces. The El Nino and the La Nina conditions govern the warming and the cooling of the oceans which in turn affect the weather patterns globally.
As far as the year 2016 is concerned, El Nino conditions spilled from 2015 into the first quarter of the year due were the contributors to making the year the warmest ever. The fag end of 2016 saw a shift and devolving La Nina conditions were seen which continued during the initial period of the year 2017.
Thereafter, it switched towards a warming trend indicating the possibility of El Nino, but such conditions did not occur. Towards the end of 2017, La Nina once again appeared which continues even now. If the year had not observed La Nina conditions, and the possibility of El Nino had not collapsed, 2017 would have been even warmer than 2016.
This cooling phase in the Pacific Ocean continues with East and Central Pacific Ocean still being colder by about a degree than average. However, it is in the declining mode and some warming is expected in the coming months.
Image Credit: NBT
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