2023 projected to be the hottest year on record, scientists confirm
The year 2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record, according to recent analysis from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The global temperature for the year is expected to be more than 1.4 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels, nearing the 1.5-degree threshold set in the Paris climate agreement.
Every month since June has been the hottest on record, with November reaching temperatures roughly 1.75 degrees warmer than pre-industrial levels. The report comes as delegates from over 150 countries gather in Dubai for the UN’s annual climate summit to discuss the phase-out of fossil fuels.
Scientists attribute the exceptional warmth of 2023 to the combined effects of El Niño and human-caused climate change. The year has been marked by a series of deadly heatwaves, remarkable record-breaking temperatures, and unprecedented ocean heat, culminating in extreme weather and climate change impacts across the globe.
As temperatures continue to rise, the world is on track to breach the 1.5-degree warming threshold, with alarming effects of the climate crisis becoming increasingly evident. A separate report from the World Meteorological Organization found that the decade between 2011 and 2020 was the hottest on record for the planet’s land and oceans, with a surge in climate change leading to dramatic glacier loss and sea-level rise.
The Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo warned, “As long as greenhouse gas concentrations keep rising, we can’t expect different outcomes from those seen this year. The temperature will keep rising, and so will the impacts of heatwaves and droughts.”
The urgency to address and mitigate the impacts of global warming is at the forefront of the ongoing climate summit in Dubai, with scientists and environmental advocates calling for wealthy and high-emitting countries to take greater responsibility in phasing out fossil fuels to help limit the increasing extreme weather and climate change impacts.