The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) officially confirmed that 2023 was the warmest year in the history of observations - and by a huge margin. This UNN reports with reference to UN News.
The average annual global temperature was almost 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. It should be recalled that the Paris Climate Agreement is aimed at limiting the long-term temperature increase to just one and a half degrees Celsius.
Data from the six leading international sources used to monitor global temperature and consolidated by the WMO show that in 2023 the annual mean global temperature was 1.45 degrees above the 1850-1900 level, with a margin of error of 0.12 degrees.
New temperature records were set each month from June through December 2023, with July and August being the two hottest months on record.
"Climate change is the biggest challenge facing humanity. It affects us all, especially the most vulnerable," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
Saulo noted that the transition from the La Niña phenomenon, which has a cooling effect, to the El Niño phenomenon, which causes warming, by mid-2023 resulted in higher temperatures than last year. Given that El Niño usually has the biggest impact on global temperatures after its peak, 2024 could be even hotter than 2023, she emphasized.
"While El Niño events occur naturally and come and go from year to year, long-term climate change is intensifying, and it is clearly linked to human activity," said Saulo, who took over as WMO secretary-general on January 1, 2024.
The WMO also notes that since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one. The ten-year average from 2014 to 2023 was 1.2 degrees above the 1850-1900 average.
The 2016 El Niño year and 2020 were previously considered the warmest years on record, with global temperatures in those years 1.29 degrees and 1.27 degrees Celsius higher, respectively
"Humanity's actions are scorching the Earth. 2023 was just a 'preview' of the catastrophic future that awaits us if we do not act now. We must respond to record temperature increases with innovative approaches," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
"We can still avoid the worst climate catastrophe, but only if we act now with the determination needed to limit global temperature rise to one and a half degrees Celsius and ensure climate justice," the UN chief added.
Long-term monitoring of global temperature is only one indicator of climate change. Other key indicators include greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, ocean temperature and acidity, sea level, sea ice surface area and glacier mass balance. The WMO's preliminary State of Global Climate 2023 report, released on November 30, showed that records have been broken for all indicators.
For most of the year, the sea surface temperature was exceptionally high, which was accompanied with strong and destructive sea heat waves. The sea ice extent in the Antarctic was the lowest for the entire observation history.
Long-term climate change is affecting the weather on an almost daily basis. In 2023, a heat wave affected global health and led to devastating wildfires. The past year was also marked by intense rainfall, flooding and severe tropical cyclones.
WMO will publish its final State of Global Climate 2023 report in March 2024. It will include, inter alia, information on the impacts of global warming on food security, population displacement and health.