2017 was hot, real hot even without an El Nino

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In case you missed it, its hot. Real hot. Damn hot. And that’s just the last couple of days. 2017 on the other hand…

From Futurism:

According to NASA data pulled together by The Guardian, 2017 was the second hottest year ever recorded, and the hottest ever if we don’t consider years when El Niño’s influence drove temperatures up.

Not only was 2017 the hottest year without an El Niño by a margin of 0.17°C (0.306° F) compared to 2014, but it was also hotter than 2015, which is remembered for the disruptive impacts of one of the strongest El Niño ever recorded.

El Niño is part of the earth’s natural cycle, and it’s not a consequence of climate change. These abnormally warm years are part of a climatic oscillation known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, a cycle that swings between warm El Niño years, neutral, and abnormally cold years called La Niña. Some of the El Niño impacts — for example, the 2015 drought in southern Africa — are dauntingly similar to what we imagine may happen to the most vulnerable areas of the world under exacerbated climate change.

Now, it looks like temperatures in what we call a “neutral year,” one not influenced by the short-term warming caused by El Niño, may be reaching similar highs with unpredictable consequences. The difference is stark when you look at the history of temperature records; Guardian writer Dana Nuccitelli compares the years 2017 and 1972, which had similar levels of solar activity and were both neutral with regards to ENSO.

Yet on average, 2017 was 0.9°C (1.62° F) hotter than 1972.

Given the track record of governments unwilling to listen to scientists and an increasingly informed public, particularly with the most irrational US president since the antebellum era, its probably too late to stop any further warming.

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So enjoy the rest of this mild summer!