The year 2023 has officially been declared the warmest on record, attributed to human-induced climate change and amplified by the natural El Niño phenomenon.
According to the EU’s climate service, the global temperature in 2023 was approximately 1.48 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial average.
Throughout the year, almost every day from July onwards set new global air temperature records for the respective time of the year. Additionally, sea surface temperatures surpassed previous highs.
The UK experienced its second warmest year on record, as reported by the Met Office, contributing to the escalating challenge of meeting international climate targets.
Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric science at Texas A&M University, emphasized the unprecedented nature of the temperature records, noting the remarkable margin by which they were broken.
This extraordinary warmth, unexpected by major science bodies a year ago, resulted from a prolonged series of daily temperature records in the latter half of 2023.
The temperature increase was primarily linked to the early onset of El Niño conditions.
In this natural event, warmer surface waters in the East Pacific Ocean release additional heat into the atmosphere.
This climate phenomenon occurred sooner than anticipated, leaving scientists with intriguing questions about the climatic dynamics in 2023.
Notably, the warmth experienced in 2023 was widespread globally, surpassing levels observed from 1991 to 2020.
This global warmth exacerbated extreme weather events worldwide, from intense heatwaves and wildfires in North America to prolonged drought and flooding in East Africa.
The consequences of the warming trend were not confined to air temperatures; Antarctic sea ice reached a record low, glaciers in Western North America and the European Alps experienced extreme melting, and the world’s sea surface temperatures hit unprecedented highs, contributing to multiple marine heatwaves.
As 2024 approaches, uncertainties persist about whether it will surpass the warmth of 2023.
The unusual behavior of the current El Niño makes predictions challenging.
However, there is a possibility that 2024 might breach the key 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold, a target set by nearly 200 countries in the Paris Agreement to mitigate the worst effects of global warming.
This warning follows the COP28 climate summit, where countries acknowledged the necessity of addressing the main cause of rising temperatures—fossil fuels.
Despite the weaker language in the agreement, there is optimism that recent progress in renewable power and electric vehicles can contribute significantly to mitigating climate change consequences.
Dr. Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London, emphasizes the importance of collective efforts to limit global temperature rise, even if the 1.5 degrees Celsius target appears challenging to achieve.
She underscores the significance of continued action to avoid the potential consequences of allowing temperatures to rise close to 3 degrees Celsius under current policies.