BLOOMBERG • May 17, 2024
In a new paper in the journal Nature this week, scientists used tree rings to plot summer temperatures for the last two millennia. 2023 was the hottest of them all and our current temperatures are even more of an outlier than we realized. The next hottest 25 have all occurred since 1996. The next runner-up was way back in 246 CE. The world’s understanding of global warming changed dramatically when scientists started to document long-term temperature trends using tree rings, ice cores, sediment layers and other natural temperature monitors. climatologists say it’s not too late to keep global warming within a manageable range. If we listen to what nature is telling us, we can keep 536 CE as the worst year to be alive. ~ F.D. Flam, host of “Follow the Science” podcast