2023 is now the warmest year in recorded history, scientists say
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), 2023 has broken six monthly and two seasonal heat records.
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If you thought this year was hotter than usual, you're not wrong. Scientists have confirmed that it's now the hottest year ever recorded.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), 2023 has broken six monthly and two seasonal heat records.
Most recently, November was the warmest November on record worldwide, reports the group that serves as Europe's Earth monitoring agency.
Monthly global surface air temperature anomalies (°C) relative to 1991–2020 from January 1940 to November 2023, plotted as time series for each year.
(Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF)
The average surface air temperature of 57.6 degrees Fahrenheit was 1.53 Fahrenheit warmer than the month's 1991-2020 average. October was just behind September 2023's record heat, which was 1.67 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the same period.
November was approximately 3.15 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the period between 1850-1900, before the Industrial Revolution.
The month also set the record for the highest sea surface temperature on record for November.
WORLD IN 'DEEP TROUBLE' WITH 2023 STILL ON TRACK TO BE HOTTEST YEAR EVER RECORDED, UN LEADER WARNS
Globally averaged surface air temperature anomalies relative to 1991–2020 for each November from 1940 to 2023.
(C3S/ECMWF)
"2023 has now had six record-breaking months and two record-breaking seasons," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the C3S. "The extraordinary global November temperatures, including two days warmer than 2ºC above preindustrial (levels), mean that 2023 is the warmest year in recorded history."
Unless greenhouse gas concentrations stop rising, different outcomes in the future cannot be expected, C3S Director Carlo Buontempo stressed Wednesday.
"The temperature will keep rising and so will the impacts of heatwaves and droughts," he added. "Reaching net zero as soon as possible is an effective way to manage our climate risks."
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) echoed the same warning late last month when world leaders gathered in Dubai for a global climate summit.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres noted that the world was in "deep trouble" and leaders must "get us out of it – starting at COP28." He urged that these records are more than just statistics.
"We risk losing the race to save our glaciers and to rein in sea level rise," he said. "We cannot return to the climate of the 20th century, but we must act now to limit the risks of an increasingly inhospitable climate in this and the coming centuries."