NewsTracker Answers for week of Aug. 16, 2021

Q: Sicily reported a temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.84 Fahrenheit) last week, which would be the highest ever recorded in Europe if it is confirmed. Where is the Italian island of Sicily?

Circle the area on this map

Q: A few days after Sicily reported its record temperature, what Iberian Peninsula nation nearly a 1,000 miles to the west reported reaching a high of 47.2 degrees Celsius (116.96 Fahrenheit)?

A. France

B. Greece

C. Spain

D. Turkey

C. If verified, Saturday’s temperature would be a new record for Spain, which shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal. From Spain to Italy to Greece, Southern Europe has been suffering from a blistering heat wave.

Q: Last week’s record-breaking temperatures came after July became the hottest month in modern history, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). July’s global combined land and ocean-surface temperature exceeded the previous record in ...

A. July 2020

B. July 2019

C. July 2016

D. All of the above

D. Last month was 0.02 degrees higher than the previous record tied in July 2016, July 2019 and July 2020. NOAA said 2021 will likely rank among the top 10 warmest years on record.

Q: A UN panel reported last week that Earth’s average surface temperature has likely not been this warm over a long period in about 125,000 years. The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change came less than three months before a key climate summit to be held in Glasgow. Where is Glasgow?

A. England

B. Scotland

C. Wales

B. The purpose of conference in Glasgow, the most populous city in Scotland, is to accelerate action on cutting the greenhouse gas emissions which are warming the planet. Last week’s report was called “a code red for humanity," and warns of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding from climate change.

Q: Would we reverse climate change if we stopped pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?

A. Yes

B. No

B. The report said the oceans will continue to warm and become more acidic. Mountain and polar glaciers will continue melting for decades or centuries. "The consequences will continue to get worse for every bit of warming," said one of the report’s authors. But, the report said failing to make changes quickly could endanger the future of humanity.