This year’s most abnormal weather shows the potential and future prospects of a warming planet

CNN
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inside hottest year on recordfingerprint Climate change in a warming world More than a dozen cases of abnormal weather occurred.

Without heat, there is no weather. Heat is energy, and weather is an expression of that energy, the atmosphere trying to balance it. But too much heat in the system increases the limits of weather possibilities, pushing them toward the extreme.

So it may not be surprising that this year’s record heat has “passed” many of 2023’s most severe weather events, says Christina, a climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Dahl told CNN.

“Climate change is affecting the weather on Earth every day,” Dahl said. “In my opinion, the burden of proof now is to prove that climate change is not influencing events, because climate change is clearly impacting everything around us. .”

This year’s abnormal weather is not unique, but a sign of things to come.

“If the world continues to warm, these types of events will continue to occur more frequently and become more severe,” Dahl said.

These are just some of the most notable examples in 2023 of what extreme weather will look like on a warming planet.

The record heat not only travels through the air, but also into the ocean, which absorbs heat from the atmosphere. excessive heat of the earth.

“Sea surface temperatures were much warmer than any previous year on record,” Dahl said.

Warm water acts like storm bait. very warm sea water 2023 didn’t just bring more storms in the atlantic ocean By neutralizing the effect of calming the storm of reinforcement El Niñobut also spurred an explosive strengthening of storms forming around the world.

This explosive reinforcement, known as rapid reinforcement, The warmer the atmosphere, the more likely it is that.

A combination of 12 tropical cyclones Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Basins rapidly intensified In 2023.

Lee was the strongest Atlantic hurricane of the season, reaching a peak as a rare Category 5 hurricane after winds strengthened in the open ocean in September. An astonishing speed of 135 miles per hour in 24 hours. The storm made Lee the third fastest-intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean.

IdaliaThe only hurricane to make landfall in the United States this year was yet another example. more often Rapid intensification of a storm just before landfall.

The storm briefly reached Category 4 status, but it struck the Big Bend area of ​​Florida as a Category 3 hurricane. The strongest storm that hits there For the first time in over 125 years.

eastern pacific hurricane otis This was the most extreme example of rapid strengthening in either basin this year. Otis’ winds had increased by a staggering 115 miles per hour in his previous 24 hours. Category 5 catastrophic landfall in Acapulco, Mexico in October.

Otis is the strongest Pacific storm to hit Mexico to date, since Hurricane Lydia, also a rapidly developing Category 4, made landfall just south of Puerto Vallarta as the other strongest storm in Pacific Mexico. It happened just two weeks later.

Rapid reinforcement also helped. hurricane hilary It remains strong enough to be tracked as a tropical storm across California. This is the first time in this state since 1997. Hillary drops deluges that break tropical rainfall records in several states; extreme flooding One of them remained for months the driest place on earth.

This year has seen an unusual number of wildfire outbreaks, both in places where fires start and where they don’t.

Wildfires typically burn 7 million to 8 million acres of land each year in the United States, but in 2023, only 2.6 million acres were burned. National Interagency Fire Center The statistics show.

That’s in part due to a soggy start to the year in the normally scorching West, which has kept wildfire outbreaks to a minimum after years of destruction. Some seasons there are no outbreaks, and as the world warms, wildfires are becoming more likely. more frequent and severe – especially in the westLatest National Climate Assessment Notes.

Still, the season proved deadly and destructive, as intense heat and lack of rain combined to dry the soil and make normally wet areas of much of the United States and Canada vulnerable to fire.

Tragedy struck the Hawaiian island of Maui in August. Scorching Lahaina Inferno.

The wind caused the flames to rise rapidly. Passing through exotic grass that has dried up due to droughtSwallowing everything in its path, some who fled for their lives had no choice but to jump into the Pacific Ocean.Many people were unable to escape and the Lahaina fire deadliest in the continental United States Above 100 years.

Louisiana is one of the wettest states in the United States, but after a summer of endless heat, no rainforest, and little rain, the ground lit up like sparks. The extreme dryness peaked in November, with 75% of the state experiencing extreme drought, the most widespread such area in the state’s history.

the nation endured one of the worst fire seasons As a result, damage has increased in recent decades, according to data provided to CNN by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Fires in the southern half of the state will continue to burn into the fall, causing smoke to create “super fog” Fiery fatal accident Near New Orleans.

The fire affected much of the United States, even if it wasn’t burning there.

The worst wildfire season in Canadian history has burned an area roughly the size of North Dakota, sending plumes of smoke plumes into the air. toxic smoke from numerous large-scale fires to the usa and All the way to Europe.

Air quality levels plummeted across the Northeast in June as smoke blocked sunlight. apocalyptic, Orange sky New York City is temporarily in turmoil. worst air pollution level In the world.

The record of heat It broke this summer beyond tnorthern hemisphere, including most of the United States.In America, a series of heat dome southern roastand center part of the country.

Kansas’ heat index soared above 130 degrees, New Orleans hit a record high of 105 degrees, and much of Texas and Florida experienced an unusually long heat wave.

But one city epitomizes extreme summers, and thermal scientists say:virtually impossiblePhoenix without anthropogenic climate change.

July in Phoenix hottest month on record Any city in the United States. After brutally hot days and record-warm nights, the city’s average temperature for the month hit an astonishing 102.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

Phoenix endured an unprecedented 31 consecutive days of temperatures of over 110 degrees.

The heat took its toll.

At least 579 people died What caused a heat-related outbreak in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is ​​located, in 2023? Worst year due to extreme heat It had been there since the county began tracking it in 2003.

day to day High temperatures exceed 100 degrees As global temperatures rise, many major U.S. cities are seeing an increase in infections, but Phoenix is ​​seeing the biggest increase. The city has an average of 18 more days above 100 degrees each year compared to historical averages. That’s about 111 days a year above 100 degrees.

Excessive flooding kills thousands

storm daniel After causing deadly floods in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria in September, it crossed the Mediterranean Sea and targeted Libya. Charging with warm water Daniel in the Mediterranean became a “Medicane”, a storm with characteristics similar to hurricanes and typhoons.

The storm brought heavy rain across Libya, with one city recording 16 inches of rain in just 24 hours. terrible flood As a result, it was developed An estimated 4,000 people were killed.

The city of Derna suffered the most damage. Floods there caused two dams to burst, creating massive waves of water that washed away much of the city center.

The Global Weather Attribution Initiative, a team of scientists analyzing the role of climate change in the effects of extreme weather events, has found that global warming pollution is to blame for Libya’s deadly downpours. Up to 50 times more likely And 50% is even worse.

We don’t need pharmaceuticals or even tropical systems to cause catastrophic flooding in a warming world. As the atmospheric temperature continues to rise, absorb more water Sounds like a towel in the form of an even more extreme downpour.

This scenario has been played out multiple times in the United States. river of dangerous atmosphere It hit California in January and March. Devastating flooding in July changed Vermont’s capital city Montpelier plunges into rapids And it turned deadly in the northern part of the state. new york; In September, a month’s worth of rain fell in New York City in a matter of hours, causing damage.amount of flood crowding into parts of the city.

CNN’s Laura Paddison and Nadine Ebrahim contributed to this report.