Temperatures rising: Jamaica to face extreme heat in 10 years – study

WASHINGTON (AP):



Researchers using weather observations, computer models and other data have calculated that Kingston, Jamaica, starting in about a decade, will probably be off-the-charts hot — permanently.



Other places are said to follow soon after.



Singapore in 2028.



Mexico City in 2031.



Cairo in 2036.



Phoenix and Honolulu in 2043.



And eventually the whole world in 2047.



A new study on global warming pinpoints the probable dates for when cities and ecosystems around the world will regularly experience hotter environments the likes of which they have never seen before.



And for dozens of cities, mostly in the tropics, those dates are a generation or less away.



"This paper is both innovative and sobering," said Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco, former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who was not involved in the study.



To arrive at their projections, the researchers used weather observations, computer models and other data to calculate the point at which every year from then on will be warmer than the hottest year ever recorded over the last 150 years.



For example, the world as a whole had its hottest year on record in 2005.



The new study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, says that by the year 2047, every year that follows will probably be hotter than that record-setting scorcher.



Eventually, the coldest year in a particular city or region will be hotter than the hottest year in its past.



Study author Camilo Mora and his colleagues said they hope this new way of looking at climate change will spur governments to do something before it is too late.



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