This is sobering news on what climate change holds in store in the near future for when particular cities and regions are expected to be wrenched our of historic norms our stable climate we have known since our species emerged on this planet. We now have a rough timetable of when a particular locale or megalopolis will experience their "climate departure" and begin the long process of a climatic regression to a distant prior age when our planet had CO2 levels similar to the massive economic/energy experiment our species has embarked on that is altering the basic makeup of our atmosphere and the chemistry of our Oceans. Two very big factors in out planetary environment we all share.
These are the cities that climate change will hit first
BY MAX FISHER
October 9
Climate scientists sometimes talk about something called "climate departure" as a way of measuring when climate change has really changed things. It's the moment when average temperatures, either in a specific location or worldwide, become so impacted by climate change that the old climate is left behind. It's a sort of tipping point. And a lot of cities are scheduled to hit one very soon.
A city hits "climate departure" when the average temperature of its coolest year from then on is projected to be warmer than the average temperature of its hottest year between 1960 and 2005. For example, let's say the climate departure point for D.C. is 2047 (which it is). After 2047, even D.C.'s coldest year will still be hotter than any year from before 2005. Put another way, every single year after 2047 will be hotter than D.C.'s hottest year on record from 1860 to 2005. It's the moment when the old "normal" is really gone.
A big study, just published in the scientific journal Nature, projected that the Earth, overall, passes climate departure in 2047. The study also projects the year of climate departure in dozens of specific cities.
Click on the WaPo link to see when your city or region's Climate Departure is estimated to occur.
Climate change to drive annual temps to new highs within a generation, study says
By Michael Pearson, CNN
Mexico City's date is 2031. It's 2046 in Orlando, and a year later in Washington and New York, according to the group. Anchorage, Alaska, doesn't climb on board until 2071.
"The results shocked us. Regardless of the scenario, changes will be coming soon," Mora said in a statement posted by the university. "Within my generation, whatever climate we were used to will be a thing of the past."
Climate change report: It's 'extremely likely' that humans are responsible
According to the research, which assesses the impact of warming using an average of well-accepted computer climate models, the average annual global temperature will move "to a state continuously outside the bounds of historical variability" in 2047 if no efforts are made to slow global warming.
We are about to depart from the stable climate that has cradled our species (and countless others) since we evolved into human beings. As I've pointed out before the last time our planet had CO2 levels this high our ancestors had yet to descend from the trees.
Also see:
Report: Climate change could render much of world uninhabitable
and
Prepare your Locale for "Climate Departure"