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Hows weather up here science12/14/2023 ![]() Each stripe is the temperature anomaly (difference from the 20th century average) over a year. These stripes represent the change in temperature measured in North Carolina from 1895-2019. ![]() These warm nights affect public health and agriculture. Nights have been getting hotter, but there is no historical trend in hot days. The last five years (2015-2019) have had the warmest overnight low temperatures on record in North Carolina, with 2019 setting the record for the warmest lows in the recorded past. Emissions are similar in the two scenarios through mid-century, and they suggest a fairly similar amount of warming through about 2050, with the range being slightly greater under the higher emissions scenario. Under a scenario in which emissions increase at a slower rate, peak around the middle of the century, and then begin to decrease, the warming will range from two to six degrees. If emissions continue to grow rapidly through the end of the century, North Carolina is projected to warm an additional six to ten degrees by 2100. Scientists study future warming using climate models and potential scenarios of how we may continue to use resources and burn fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas). Scientists expect the warming to continue in North Carolina through this century, in all seasons. The amount of warming will depend on future emissions of heat-trapping gases. While this report was being finalized, 2019 was declared North Carolina’s warmest year in 125 years of record keeping. The last decade (2009-2018) beat out the warm 1930s as the warmest decade on record for North Carolina. From these data, we know that even though the state has warmed less than the planet, warming here has accelerated in recent decades. This is less than Earth as a whole, which has warmed by nearly two degrees. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), housed in Asheville, NC, maintains meticulous climate records for the country and planet–measured throughout what we call recorded history–by thermometers and rain gauges at official sites by trained observers. North Carolina has warmed by about one degree Fahrenheit over the past 120 years. It has been thoroughly reviewed by subject matter experts. This independently produced report is the first of its kind. The North Carolina Climate Science Report (NCCSR), led by the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, draws from climate science expertise across the state, as well as from peer-reviewed science, to reach these conclusions. Over the next 80 years, the state can expect disruptive sea level rise, increasingly hot nights, and more days with dangerous heat and extreme rainfall unless the global increase in heat-trapping gases is stopped. Climate change will impact our state’s economy, environment, and people. Scientists from across the state agree that the changes to our climate in this century will be larger than anything experienced in North Carolina’s historical past. The continuing release of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere as a result of human activity makes for a warmer, wetter, and more humid North Carolina. If you’re looking for more, check out the full report at /nccsr.Ĭlimate change is already being felt in North Carolina, and it will continue to pose a significant challenge for the foreseeable future for the 10.5 million people who call this state home. It will tell you a little bit about the key findings of the full report. Here, we post the plain language summary that we helped develop with other report contributors. SCO staff, Ashley Hiatt, and former undergraduate student (now ECU graduate student), Kelley DePolt, were technical contributors. Kathie Dello, served as a report author and on the Climate Science Advisory Panel. It was led by our colleagues in Asheville at the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies. The report drew from subject matter experts across the state, and is an independent assessment of peer-reviewed science as it pertains to North Carolina. This report was produced at the request of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality as part of the state’s response to Governor Cooper’s Executive Order 80. Our center was involved in writing the North Carolina Climate Science Report, the first report of its kind for the state of North Carolina. North Carolina Climate Science Report Plain Language Summary Additionally, view our recently launched three-part series of lessons about climate change in North Carolina: Climate Change Lessons for North Carolinaīecome involved in a network of Climate Change Educators in North Carolina by joining the NC Climate Education Network. Learn more about North Carolina’s changing climate in the North Carolina Climate Science Report and our Climate Change in NC Webinar Series.
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