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2023 saw record global temperatures: WMO
Six prominent international datasets were consolidated by the WMO for monitoring global temperatures
The annual average global temperature has approached approximately 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels / Image - Unsplash
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has revealed that 2023 was the warmest year on record, surpassing previous records by a substantial margin.
The annual average global temperature reached approximately 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This is a significant milestone, noteworthy because the Paris Agreement on climate change seeks to limit the long-term temperature increase, averaged over decades, to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Six prominent international datasets, consolidated by the WMO for monitoring global temperatures, reveal that the annual average global temperature in 2023 was 1.45 ± 0.12 °C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900). Global temperatures for every month between June and December established new monthly records in 2023, with July and August standing out as the two hottest months on record.
“Climate change is the biggest challenge that humanity faces. It is affecting all of us, especially the most vulnerable,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Celeste Saulo.
“The shift from cooling La Niña to warming El Niño by the middle of 2023 is clearly reflected in the rise in temperature from last year. Given that El Niño usually has the biggest impact on global temperatures after it peaks, 2024 could be even hotter,” she added.
Saulo underlined that authorities are already taking action but more has to be done in order to make drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources.
Since the 1980s, each successive decade has been warmer than the preceding one. Over the past nine years, global temperatures have consistently set new records, making them the warmest. Previously, 2016, marked by a strong El Niño, as well as 2020 were regarded as the warmest years on record, with temperatures at 1.29 ± 0.12°C and 1.27 ± 0.12°C above the pre-industrial era, respectively.
“While El Niño events are naturally occurring and come and go from one year to the next, longer-term climate change is escalating, and this is unequivocal because of human activities. The climate crisis is worsening the inequality crisis. It affects all aspects of sustainable development and undermines efforts to tackle poverty, hunger, ill-health, displacement, and environmental degradation,” Saulo mainted. She became WMO Secretary-General on January 1, 2024.
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