2022 was an extraordinary year. We traveled to the Moon again
for the first time in half a century. We made history with
the James Webb Space Telescope, seeing deeper into the universe
than ever before. And those same folks exploring outward are also
the same people looking inward toward Earth. So what did we see
this past year? A lot. Scientists around the world
determined that greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate
change once again set new records. In July, we sent a new
instrument called EMIT to the International Space Station.
EMIT can identify 'super emitters' of methane, a powerful
greenhouse gas coming from pipelines, landfills and other
sources. And it's already recorded super plumes all over
the world, including in Turkmenistan, Iran, and New
Mexico. Methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap
heat in the climate system and cause rising global surface
temperatures. 2022 effectively tied for Earth's fifth warmest
year since 1880. And the last nine consecutive years have been
the warmest nine on record. And all that heat expressed itself
differently across the globe this year. Most of the extra
heat in the climate system builds up in the ocean and 2022
set new records for ocean heat, in independent NOAA and NASA
analysis. This increased ocean heat can fuel intense tropical
storms like we saw in September with Hurricane Ian. Ian rapidly
intensified from a tropical storm into a category four in
under 24 hours and became one of the costliest storms to ever hit
the US. As the climate system warms, the atmosphere holds more
moisture, resulting in more intense heavy downpours.
From June through September, Pakistan saw some of the worst
flooding in a decade due to prolonged and intense monsoon
rains, leaving behind a devastated community.
Increasing heat not only leads to more water in the atmosphere
and heavier downpours, but it also exacerbates soil moisture
loss and drought. Which is what we saw in the American west as
it experienced ongoing droughts in 2022, leading to vital water
reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell dropping to just 27%
of capacity. Drier and warmer conditions mean there's more
fuel and opportunities for fires. In January during a
longstanding heatwave and drought, the Corrientes province
in Argentina saw over 1000 fires. It devastated important
wetlands in Ibera National Park and vital surrounding farmland.
But there is hope looking ahead. In addition to monitoring Earth,
NASA is powering solutions with free and open data like OpenET a
tool for farmers and other resource managers to plan and
implement irrigation and water use in a warming world. NASA
know-how is also helping firefighters and forest managers
prevent future fire hazards by better controlling airspace
during prescribed burns and emergency response. As we've
seen a warming climate impacts all of us and it's going to take
all of us to combat it. As we look back at 2022 and years
past, we see that each year we better understand the challenges
we face and how important it is to meet them.