Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Official word will arrive later this week that Earth recorded the hottest calendar year in recorded history. And for the fifth time this decade, journalists will try to convey the significance of a milestone that’s become routine and predictable. Why it matters: This year’s record stands out from the pack in that it wasn’t expected. That’s prompted climate scientists to launch multiple studies investigating what led to the record heat. Still, one hottest year after the next is a climate communications conundrum. To put it simply: It’s about as far from a “stop the presses” moment as one can get in climate news. Zoom in: Don’t take my word for it. Andrew Dessler, a climate researcher at Texas A&M University, has a form email that he replies to reporters with when he gets inquiries for comment on a hottest annual temperature record. “Thank you for emailing me asking for a comment about 20__ being one of the hottest years in the record,” it states. “No, this is not surprising — it is exactly in line with predictions.” The email goes on to note: “Every year for the rest of your life will be one of the hottest in the record.” Between the lines: Dessler elaborated in an email to Axios, and his point is backed up by peer-reviewed research on how people process a rapidly shifting temperature baseline. “People have no real understanding of how hot it’s gotten because people’s memories of weather are very short-term,” he said. “I firmly believe that if you took someone from the 1970s and beamed them forward in time to today, they would be shocked at how hot it is.” Yes, but: Zeke Hausfather, climate lead at Stripe, said 2024’s record-breaking temperatures raise the question of “whether the era of […]