Global temperatures are dangerously close to the highest ever estimated to have occurred in the past million years, scientists reported Monday.
In a study that analyzed temperatures around the globe, researchers found that Earth has been warming rapidly, nearly 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) in the last 30 years.
"The average surface temperature is 15, maybe 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit)," said Alan Robock, a meteorologist and climate researcher from Rutgers University who was not involved with the study.
If global temperatures go up another 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C), it would be equal to the maximum temperature of the past million years.
| 