The United Nations weather agency, in collaboration with partners, has officially confirmed that July 2023 attained the highest global average temperature ever recorded, potentially reaching levels unseen for over 120,000 years. Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director at the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, emphasized that July's temperature exceeded the average for the period from 1815 to 1900, an era often considered as pre-industrial times, by around 1.5 degrees Celsius. She also pointed out the occurrence of widespread heatwaves across various regions during the month.
Utilizing proxy records, including evidence from cave deposits, calcifying organisms, corals, and shells, Copernicus scientists corroborated that the planet hadn't experienced such warmth for over 120,000 years. Notably, global sea surface temperatures also broke records, with ocean surfaces warming by approximately 0.51 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, following unusually high temperatures in April. From the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Chris Hewitt, Director of Climate Services, reiterated the agency's May prediction that there was a "98 per cent likelihood" that one of the next five years would rank among the warmest on record. While there's a 66 per cent chance that the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold above pre-industrial levels could be temporarily exceeded within this timeframe, Burgess cautioned that any such elevation would have severe ramifications for both people and the planet, increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme events. Urgent action to curtail global greenhouse gas emissions is vital to mitigate these impacts.
Mr. Hewitt underscored that despite prevailing La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean that tend to dampen global average temperatures, 2015 to 2022 stood as the "eight warmest years" in recorded history, spanning at least 170 years. The consistent long-term warming trend is attributed to escalating concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, all of which have reached unprecedented levels. He also reminded that the warmest year on record, 2016, was associated with a potent El Niño event atop the ongoing climate system warming. This new temperature record for July 2023 serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for robust initiatives to counteract the escalating impacts of climate change, safeguarding both ecosystems and humanity from the escalating threats posed by extreme weather events.
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