Temperatures worldwide “reached exceptionally high levels in 2023,” shattering records and marking what might have been the hottest period of the last 100,000 years, scientists with the European climate service Copernicus said Tuesday.
The global average temperature last year was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.66 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, according to Copernicus and The Associated Press. The increase was only a small amount below the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit that countries agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to avoid the most severe consequences of global warming, Reuters reported.
Though nearly half of the days last year were at least 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than pre-industrial temperatures, scientists stressed Tuesday that the world has not yet surpassed the threshold set by the Paris Agreement. To do that, the 1.5-degree limit would have to be topped regularly over a 20-year period.
However, scientists warned that the numbers seen last year set “a dire precedent.”
“The extremes we have observed over the last few months provide a dramatic testimony of how far we now are from the climate in which our civilisation developed,” Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said Tuesday in a statement.
“This has profound consequences for the Paris Agreement and all human endeavours.”
Caused by record carbon dioxide emissions and exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which warms the surface waters in the Pacific Ocean, the extreme heat fueled heatwaves, floods, droughts and extensive wildfires — including the blaze that burned a swath of Hawaii in August.
“If we want to successfully manage our climate risk portfolio, we need to urgently decarbonise our economy whilst using climate data and knowledge to prepare for the future,” Buontempo said.
The new record was widely expected by scientists after last year saw record-breaking temperatures for several months. Starting in June, every month was the hottest on record, according to Copernicus.
“2023 was an exceptional year with climate records tumbling like dominoes,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said on Tuesday. “Not only is 2023 the warmest year on record, it is also the first year with all days over 1°C warmer than the pre-industrial period. Temperatures during 2023 likely exceed those of any period in at least the last 100,000 years.”
Scientists expect that 2024 will see a further warming in temperatures.
© 2024 Cox Media Group
