4/16 Warmest Global April On Record, And It Wasn't Even Close

[hatrack]

April was the warmest such month on record for the globe, and yet again, we saw a near-record large margin compared to average, according to NASA data released Saturday. The record all but assures that 2016 will set another milestone for the warmest calendar year in NASA's database, regardless of whether the rest of this year sees comparatively cooler global temperatures.

During each of the past seven months, global average surface temperatures have exceeded the 20th century average by more than 1 degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Until October, that 1-degree threshold had not been crossed since NASA's global temperature records began in 1880.

In addition, the agreement contains language referring to the need to limit global warming to as low as 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above the preindustrial average. The temperature records that have toppled during the past year have shown just how close we already are to these climate guardrails.

If global warming shoots past the 2-degree target, experts fear a runaway cascade of dire consequences, from a sharp increase in sea level due to the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and loss of much of West Antarctica to the mass extinction of climate-sensitive species. This is particularly relevant since the Paris Agreement on climate change specifies that countries should work to keep human-caused global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels by the year 2100.

EDIT

http://mashable.com/2016/05/14/earth-warmest-april/#6G4joEOaxuqm