NOAA: 2022 Earth’s 6th warmest year on record, drought continues to impact Arizona

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a full climate report on 2022. They say Earth warmed up a couple of degrees Fahrenheit and was the 6th-warmest on record. While it was not the warmest on record, 2022 was the warmest La Nina on record. The La Nina pattern usually brings cooler temps to the west, while El Nino brings warmer weather.

The Director of Climate Science at Climate Change, Dr. Andrew Pershing, says all the carbon dioxide causes a warming Earth in the atmosphere. Although he is located on the East Coast, he and his team focus a lot on the desert Southwest. “You have some of the highest climate sensitivities of any places in the United States,” he said. “In some cases, it stands out in the world.”

Arizona and the states around us are in a tough spot. Wildfires are becoming more common and severe. The flames are destroying homes, cars, and land in the west. Drought is also limiting how much water we have access to in Arizona. Dr. Pershing says the data shows that we will continue to see more severe climate changes. “It’s putting pressure every day on temps in Arizona to be two or three degrees warmer. It makes extreme heat more likely, more intense and makes heat waves longer,” he said. “The rule is places that get drier will get drier, and places that are wet get wetter.”

Dr. Pershing expects severe weather to become more common as time goes on. He says the El Nino pattern will bring even warmer air into our region later this summer, and more moisture in the air will give storms more energy to produce more rain and flooding. But, it won’t be enough to make up for the drought.

To read the full report from NOAA, click here.

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