World leaders pledged in 2015 to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. The Washington Post's new analysis, which uses data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows that many locations around the country have already exceeded that limit. This is not entirely unexpected, as land areas are warming faster than oceans and the globe has not yet passed the 2 degree mark, but these hot spots essentially act as a preview of what is to come for billions around the world as Human-caused global warming is accelerating.
The story, published Tuesday, is part of an ambitious new series on hot spots.
Daniel Pauly, a marine scientist at the University of British Columbia, told the Washington Post that 2 degree Celsius hotspots are early warning sirens of climate change.
“Basically,” he said, “these hotspots are pieces of the future in the present.”
In New England, warming is causing changes in the fishing industry as warm water species move north.
Average annual temperatures in the Northeast have risen faster over the winter, according to climate change projections that show cold seasons warming faster than warm seasons. New Jersey's average temperature has risen nearly 2 degrees Celsius since 1895, which is twice the average for the Lower 48 states.
As history shows, this is life-changing throughout the Garden State, particularly when it comes to winter recreation.
According to the new analysis, NOAA data show that every northeastern state except Pennsylvania has seen at least 2 degrees Celsius of warming since the late 19th century. This is resulting in earlier melting of snow and ice across the region and fears of a threatened tourism industry dependent on winter sports.
“New Jersey's average temperature from December to February now exceeds 0 degrees Celsius, the temperature at which water freezes,” according to The Post. “This threshold, reached over the past three decades, means lakes don't freeze over as often, snow melts more quickly, and insects and pests don't die off as they once did in the harshest cold.”
But warming winters don't mean winters at all, as The Post notes:
“Polar vortex events, where frozen arctic air descends into the heart of the country, can still bring cold. But the overall trend remains the same and is set to continue. A recent study found that by the time the entire globe rises above 2 degrees Celsius, the Northeast can be expected to have warmed by around 3 degrees Celsius, with winter temperatures even higher.”
Here are some other top findings from the analysis:
- 34 million people in the United States live in areas that have already hit the 2 degree Celsius buffer.
- Alaska is the hottest state in the country.
- Due in part to rapidly warming ocean waters stretching from the Mid-Atlantic to the Gulf of Maine, Rhode Island is the first state in the contiguous United States whose average temperature has risen beyond 2 degrees Celsius.
Stay tuned for more stories in this series from The Post's climate and environment team.
