Issue 49  |  12 July 2023

Spotlight on 'evidence of a warming world'

In the previous issue of the Climate Newsletter, we reported on the Copernicus news story indicating that the global-mean temperature breached 1.5 °C in the first week of June.

In recent weeks there have been a series of news stories hitting the headlines which bring into stark relief the effect of climate change on our world. Temperature records around the globe – including ocean temperatures – and low polar sea ice extent are just some of the indicators of the impact of warming global temperatures even before the full effects of the developing El Niño are felt.

Learn more about some of those news stories below.

Average world temperatures hottest on record?

UN Secretary General, António Guterres, reacted strongly last week to provisional data on the Earth’s average temperature. Following reports that the Earth’s average temperature hit a record high of 17.18 °C on Tuesday and Wednesday, he said that “climate change is out of control. If we persist in delaying key measures that are needed, I think we are moving into a catastrophic situation, as the last two records in temperature demonstrates.”

Climate change impacts June temperature records in the UK

At the start of July, the Met Office confirmed that June 2023 was the hottest on record in the UK and that climate change had influenced the high temperatures.

Paul Davies, Met Office Climate Extremes Principal Fellow and Chief Meteorologist, said: “We found that the chance of observing a June beating the previous joint 1940/1976 record of 14.9°C has at least doubled since the 1940s. Alongside natural variability, the background warming of the Earth’s atmosphere due to human induced climate change has driven up the possibility of reaching record high temperatures.”

Antarctic sea ice hits record low

The current Antarctic sea ice extent is over 1.3 million sq km below the next lowest recorded extent for the time of year. That shortfall is more than five times the surface area of the UK.

Dr Ed Blockley leads the Met Office’s Polar Climate Group. He said: “At the end of June, the extent of sea ice should be building to a mid-point between the maximum and the minimum. However, this year the ice is expanding very slowly with the consequence that the extent is way below the long-term (1981-2010) average.”

Latest report highlights significantly low sea ice extent

The Met Office has today published the latest report on the state of the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice. The Arctic sea extent is currently the 13th lowest on record for the time of year, while Antarctic sea ice extent remains exceptionally low, and has been at record low levels since late May.

World Meteorological Organization highlights extremes

In a news release last week, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) highlighted some of the climate extremes of recent months.

Professor Chris Hewitt, WMO Director of Climate Services, said: “We are in uncharted territory and we can expect more records to fall as El Niño develops further and these impacts will extend into 2024. This is worrying news for the planet.”

In the news

A quiet AI revolution is taking place in weather forecasting

Met Office Chief of Science and Technology, Professor Stephen Belcher, published an opinion piece in iNews earlier this month. He explained how “AI emulators provide exciting possibilities for improving weather prediction and the forecasts that enable us all to stay safe and thrive”.

Climate Data Portal

The Met Office's Climate Data Portal is now publicly available, improving the accessibility to UK climate data which will in turn help improve the understanding of the impacts of climate change on businesses and their operations. Built using ESRI's ArcGIS Hub, the Climate Data Portal makes data easily accessible to both GIS and non-GIS users in a range of formats including Microsoft Excel, Power BI and via API, making it easier for organisations to view climate data geospatially and analyse climate change projections alongside their own data.

The Portal has been in BETA since mid-2022 and has proven successful with users in this test phase. Alan Gale, Adaption and Resilience Manager for Forestry and Land Scotland, said “The innovative approach being taken by the Met Office will make the important climate data available to a broader range of users across our organisation. Importantly the intuitive portal approach being developed will allow users to better understand the local and regional climate differences at a glance. Also, we hope to use this information to better understand what extreme climate we can expect in certain places in the future... and so we can take early adaptation action in these specific places to mitigate potential impacts - evidence based land management decision making!"

What's coming up

Adaptation: taking evidence-based action

The earth has already warmed by approximately 1.1 °C compared to pre-industrial times, and we are already seeing impacts from this in all parts of the world. Even if all emissions stopped today, we cannot avoid further impacts. For example, sea level rise takes many years to respond to increasing global temperatures and we will therefore see our seas rise for many years to come.

Adaptation is therefore critical for our resilience to climate change. In this webinar on Wednesday 19 July from 14:00-15:00 BST, we will explore the importance of taking an evidence-based approach to adaptation.

We will be joined by speakers from Marsh McLennan/Grantham Research Institute/Climate Change Committee, Clinton Devon Estates and JBA Consulting.

ASPECT – get involved

Is your organisation affected by changes in weather, the seasons or extreme events such as storms and drought? Are you concerned about experiencing more extreme weather under future climate change? If so, you’ll be interested in a new Horizon Europe funded project called ‘ASPECT’.

The ASPECT project is developing new climate prediction systems for Europe and over the next three years is aiming to provide seamless climate information for up to 30 years ahead for different sectors of society. The ASPECT project currently includes three Super Users (organisations working closely with our scientists) from the agriculture, finance and governance sectors. Scientists and Super Users are co-developing state-of-the-art climate services to help with decision making around extreme events and climate change.

The ASPECT project has recently launched an opportunity for two more organisations operating in societally important sectors in Europe to engage with the ASPECT project and become Super Users. Becoming an ASPECT Super User is a unique opportunity to become an integral part of the project over the next three years. The two Super Users will be selected in an open competition, giving them the chance to test and access the novel services developed in ASPECT. Among other benefits, becoming a Super User will enable you to:

• Make better informed decisions for resilience to climate change and extreme weather.

• Develop your understanding on extreme weather and climate risks, working directly with world-leading experts from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the Met Office.
• Help co-produce useful and usable state-of-the-art climate services that will benefit many other organisations.

You can find out more on the project website, and start the application process here. Applications close on 9 October 2023. 

We encourage all organisations to get involved in ASPECT by signing up to the ASPECT mailing list which will also enable you to join our annual multi-sector User Forum events.

Please do get in touch with the ASPECT project via hello.aspect@bsc.es if you have any further questions.

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