A new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has examined the level to which different US states have experienced temperature increases as a result of global warming.
Published in the Scientific Data journal, the study identified Alaska, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada as having experienced the strongest average warming trends over the period from 1980 to 2022.
The lowest average warming trends were recorded in Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Arkansas, the study found, while across the United States as a whole, temperature increases were most pronounced during summer and autumn, particularly in September and November.
The study utilised data from two high-resolution climate and weather datasets, MERRA2 and ERA5, over a 42-year period.
On an individual basis, Alaska recorded the highest historical maximum daily temperature increases, with an average increase of 2.5°C in monthly averaged maximum daily temperatures for each 1°C rise in global warming. Hawaii recorded the lowest increases, at 0.8°C.
‘Adaptive measures’
“Based on these results, we encourage decision-makers to assess states that have undergone the steepest increases in maximum and minimum daily temperatures, and identify where continued trends would indicate a rapid progression toward thresholds beyond which natural and managed resources, ecosystems, and infrastructure can function safely,” commented MIT CS3 deputy director C. Adam Schlosser, a co-author of the study.
“In such cases, triaging and adaptive measures would take a high priority. By directing resources to where they are needed most, state and regional planners could significantly reduce climate-related physical and financial risks.”
Emissions increase
As the authors noted, barring a major intervention, these state-by-state temperature trends are likely to continue ‘unabated’ as emissions from human activities continue to increase global average temperatures.
Global warming currently stands at approximately 1.63°C above pre-industrial levels, the data showed. Read more here.
