Hot, Hot, Hot!

We probably didn't need to wait for a climatology report from NASA/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to confirm that 2021 was really hot. The world is now warmer than at any time in the last 2000 years (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/13/hot-year-temperatures-climate-crisis-2021). The report notes that 2021 was the 6th hottest ever recorded and that circa 25% of the world's population experienced a record hot year. Record high temperatures were reached in parts of North Africa, Southern Asia and South America. Things are not looking any better in 2022. Already, Australia's record outback temperature of 50.7 degrees Centigrade, has been matched in the coastal, Western Australian town of Onslow (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/14/concerns-for-life-in-western-australias-pilbara-after-507c-heat-record-matched). Temperatures around these values, are life-threatening to humans. Record temperatures around 45 degrees Centigrade, are also currently making life very uncomfortable for people in Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Brazil and Paraguay (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/14/south-america-heat-wave-record-summer-temperatures). It's consequently hardly remarkable then that 60% of Americans are 'alarmed' or very 'concerned' about the climate crisis (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/13/record-number-americans-alarmed-about-climate-crisis). The only remaining question is 'what planet do the other 40% live on?"