It ’s official : 2023 was the hottest twelvemonth on Earth since records commence , overtaking the previous track record - fall in yr by a meaning perimeter .
The global average temperature of 2023 was 1.48 ° C ( 2.6 ° F ) warmer than pre - industrial levels in the 19thcentury and 0.60 ° C ( 1.08 ° atomic number 9 ) warmer than the 1991 - 2020 average , accord to theCopernicus Climate Change Service .
These temperature were 0.17 ° C ( 0.30 ° F ) affectionate than the former high annualtemperatures seen in 2016 .
Surface air temperature anomaly for 2023 relative to the average for the 1991-2020 reference period.Image credit: C3S/ECMWF
“ Temperatures during 2023 likely exceed those of any stop in at least the last 100,000 years , ” Samantha Burgess , lieutenant director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service , said in astatement .
But that ’s not all . There were several other climate records that were smashed in 2023 :
The record - breaking year of 2023 was give a rise by the unprecedented warm conditions see from June .
It ’s important that 2023 wasan El Niño year . This is a phase in theEl Niño - Southern Oscillation ( ENSO ) cyclewhereby globular temperatures are drive upwardly . It ’s a highly complex born process that ’s tight associated with warming temperature in the Pacific Ocean around the equator bear a knock - on consequence on the rest of the planet .
However , make no fault : these records are a damning reflection of how human activity is changing our satellite . One of the prime causes of the ardent temperatures pick up in 2023 was increase concentrations of glasshouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere produced by the combustion of fogey , industrial agriculture , and other human activities .
As ever , clime scientistsare stressingthat the planet needs to urgently ditch fossil fuel to belie the deepening impacts of the climate crisis .
“ The extremes we have keep over the last few months provide a striking testimonial of how far we now are from the mood in which our civilization make grow . This has fundamental consequences for the Paris Agreement and all human endeavours . If we require to successfully pull off our climate risk portfolio , we postulate to urgently decarburize our thriftiness whilst using clime data point and knowledge to prepare for the futurity , ” take note Carlo Buontempo , director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service .
