2023 warmest ever, brace for a hotter 2024
Shattering previous records, global mean temperature till October this year was around 1.4 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial level (1850-1900 average), the WMO said.
Data so far shows 2023 almost touched the warming limit threshold of 1.5 degree C. This, however, does not mean that the world will permanently exceed the 1.5 degree C level specified in the Paris Agreement, which actually refers to long-term warming over many years.
July '23 all-time warmest month on record, says WMO report
Based on the data till October, it is virtually certain that 2023 will be the warmest year in the 174-year observational record, surpassing the previous joint warmest years, 2016 at 1.29 degree C above the 1850-1900 average and 2020 at 1.27 degree C.
The difference between 2023 and 2016 and 2020 is such that the final two months (November-December) are very unlikely to affect the ranking, said WMO's State of the Global Climate report released on the sidelines of the UN climate conference (CO).
«Record global heat should send shivers down the spines of world leaders,» said UN chief Antonio Guterres.
According to the report, the months June, July, August, September and October in 2023 each surpassed the previous record for the respective month by a wide margin in all datasets used by WMO. July is typically the warmest month of the year globally.
Thus, July 2023 became the all-time warmest month on record.
«The past nine years, 2015 to 2023, were the warmest on record. The warming El Nino event, which emerged during the Northern Hemisphere spring of 2023 and developed rapidly during summer, is likely to further fuel the heat in 2024 because El Nino typically has the greatest impact on global temperatures after it peaks,» the
