The year was 2023 the hottest on Earth since 1850when recording began.
This was revealed by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the Earth observation program of the European Space Program.
The anomalous and “unprecedented” temperatures of the second half of the year have triggered global thermometers and average surface air temperatures in 2023 14.98 °C reachedexceeding 2016, which previously held the record for the warmest year, by 0.17ºC.
According to the institution based in Bonn (Germany). It was also 0.60 ºC are above the average values of the last three decades and 1.48 °C above the pre-industrial reference valuebetween 1850 and 1900.
The year 2023 was “most likely” the warmest in history and “possibly”. one of the warmest in the last 100,000 years“, explained Carlo Buontempo, the director of C3S, during a press conference.
“Basically what this means is that our cities, roads, monuments, farms and all human activities in general have never had to contend with such a warm climate,” he added.
Last year was also the first in which every day was individual The average temperature exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1 °Cwhile almost half of days exceeded the “critical limit” of 1.5°C, compared to 20% in 2016.
A “disastrous” precedent
This does not mean that the limits of the Paris Agreement have been exceeded, Copernicus clarified, as these are temperature excesses during the climate crisis Terms of at least 20 yearsbut still represents a “dark precedent.”
On two days in November, the corresponding pre-industrial temperatures were exceeded by more than 2 °C for the first time.
Several negative records
The negative records don't end there, because The extent of Antarctic sea ice has reached historic lows at daily and monthly levels in February 2023, while remaining at exceptionally low levels for eight months of the year.
At the same time, Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane in the atmosphere were the highest ever recordeds, with a record annual estimate of 419 and 1902 parts per million (ppm), respectively, up 2.4 and 11 ppm from the previous year.
Global average sea surface temperatures were also unusually high, reaching record levels from April to December. They were associated with marine heat waves in areas of the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the North Pacific. and large parts of the North Atlantic.
The main reason for this was the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases, the so-called climate phenomenon The youngwhich began last July.
The second warmest year on record in Europe
By region, the average air temperatures in the year broke or almost reached a record a large part of all ocean basins and from every continent except Australia.
As researcher Francesca Guglielmo explained, the largest contribution to the air temperature anomalies in the May-August and September-December periods came from the edge of the tropical ocean.
In Europe, The year 2023 was the second warmest year ever recorded0.17ºC below the first year of 2022 and 1.02ºC above the average of the last three decades, while the month of September was the hottest ever recorded on the continent.
There are signs that areas bordering the Mediterranean in particular are warming faster than other land regions, said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the C3S, pointing to the high temperatures recorded throughout the year in parts of Spain, France and parts of Eastern Europe became.
Aside from the impact of El Niño, Buontempo says the main factor behind the anomalies detected around the world is the Increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases due to human use of fossil fuels.
If this process cannot be reversed, “there is no reason to expect different results in the future,” warned the director of C3S, who in this case warned that “in a few years it will probably be 2023, which has broken a record , will be remembered.” as “a cool year”