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2016 summer to smash record of last year

25 April 2016 18:00 (UTC+04:00)
2016 summer to smash record of last year

By Amina Nazarli

Last year was the hottest year on record, breaking the record set in 2014 by a huge margin.

However, 2015 will not be able to keep the leading position for long, experts say expecting this summer to be warmer than in previous years.

Gavin Schmidt, the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies predicts 2016 to set new records, saying that there's a greater than 99 percent chance this year will be the warmest year on record.

March 2016 was the hottest March on record, going back 136 years, according to the Goddard Institute. The average global temperature in March was 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average and the highest for the month of March between 1880 and 2016.

Maharram Hasanov, the head of the ANAS Geography Institute also predicts this summer to be warmer in Azerbaijan as compared to 2015.

He reminded that in 2015, no rainfall was observed in the country from July 20 to August 20 and the temperature was high.

“Prolonged heat wave is not expected this year. But the temperature will rise to 40 degrees on some days,” he said.

Hasanov went on to say that this winter was quite warm in Azerbaijan, and comparative analysis of individual days shows that the air temperature was above the norm.

The studies covering period from 1991 to 2012 showed that temperature throughout Azerbaijan increased by 0.5-0.6 C, while precipitation decreased by 15-89 mm.

Global temperatures are expected to continue to soar over the next 12 months as rising levels of greenhouse gas emissions and El Nino, an irregularly periodical variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, continue to bring more record-breaking warmth to the planet.

Chairman of Azerbaijan Green Movement Farida Huseynova, in turn, admitted that effects of the climate change are obvious, as winters now are shorter, while summers hotter in the country.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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