2018 Is Shaping Up to Be the Fourth-Hottest Year. Yet We’re Still Not Prepared for Global Warming.

2018 Is Shaping(SHāp) Up to Be the Fourth-Hottest Year. Yet We’re Still Not Prepared for Global Warming.

It’s hot. But it may not be the new normal yet. Temperatures(-ˌCHo͝or,ˈtemp(ə)rəCHər) are still rising(rīz).

By Somini Sengupta

This summer of fire and swelter(ˈsweltər) looks a lot like the future that scientists(ˈsīəntist) have been warning about in the era(ˈerə,ˈi(ə)rə) of climate(ˈklīmit) change, and it’s revealing(riˈvēliNG) in real time how unprepared much of the world remains(riˈmānz) for life on a hotter planet(ˈplanit).

The disruptions(disˈrəpSHən) to everyday life have been far-reaching and devastating(ˈdevəˌstātiNG). In California(-nēə,ˌkaləˈfôrnyə), firefighters are racing(rās) to control(kənˈtrōl) what has become the largest fire in state history. Harvests(ˈhärvist) of staple(ˈstāpəl) grains(grān) like wheat((h)wēt) and corn(kôrn) are expected to dip(dip) this year, in some cases sharply, in countries as different as Sweden(ˈswēdn) and El Salvador(ˈsalvəˌdôr,ˌsalvəˈdôr). In Europe, nuclear(-kli(ə)r,ˈn(y)o͞oklēər) power plants have had to shut down because the river(ˈrivər) water that cools the reactors was too warm. Heat waves on four continents(ˈkäntnənt) have brought electricity(əˌlekˈtrisədē) grids(grid) crashing.

And dozens(ˈdəzən) of heat-related(riˈlātid) deaths in Japan this summer offered a foretaste(ˈfôrˌtāst) of what researchers warn could be big increases in mortality(môrˈtalətē) from extreme(ikˈstrēm) heat. A study last month in the journal(ˈjərnl) PLOS Medicine(ˈmedisən) projected a fivefold(ˈfīvˌfōld) rise for the United(yo͞oˈnīt) States by 2080. The outlook for less wealthy(ˈwelTHē) countries is worse; for the Philippines(ˈfiləˌpēnz), researchers forecast(ˈfôrˌkast) 12 times more deaths.

Globally, this is shaping up to be the fourth-hottest year on record. The only years hotter were the three previous(ˈprēvēəs) ones. That string of records is part of an accelerating(əkˈseləˌrāt) climb(klīm) in temperatures since the start of the industrial(inˈdəstrēəl) age that scientists say is clear evidence(ˈevədəns) of climate(ˈklīmit) change caused(kôz) by greenhouse gas emissions(iˈmiSHən).

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/climate/summer-heat-global-warming.html