Climate scientists are ringing in the new year with alarming data: 2023 was the hottest year ever on record, and not by a slim margin.
A new report published by the Copernicus Climate Change Service, a component of the European Union’s climate change observation program, found that “2023 is confirmed as the warmest calendar year in global temperature data records going back to 1850.”
According to the report, “2023 marks the first time on record that every day within a year has exceeded 1°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial level for that time of year,” and that January of 2024 is on pace to mark a 12-month period during which temperatures exceed the 1.5°C increase threshold scientists have warned could lead to catastrophic, irreversible climate ramifications if sustained.
An increase in global temperatures was partially expected in 2023, given that the El Niño phenomenon has been in effect and is expected to continue through 2024. The report, however, clarified that various factors, including increased sea surface temperatures and a record low extent of Antarctic sea ice, contributed to a spike in global temperatures that “were not only record high relative to the average for 1991-2020, but also relative to a climatological average adjusted to the present day.”
The report is a stark warning of the ongoing effects of global climate change, which continues to contribute to extreme weather events even as governments waffle over their commitments to large-scale climate action.
Last month nations at the UN’s 2023 global climate summit, COP28, signed a historic agreement to “transition away” from fossil fuels and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The deal was the subject of tense negotiations at the summit and almost fell apart due to efforts from oil-exporting nations to remove language calling for a full “phase out” of fossil fuel energy resources.
While the agreement was recognized as a major step toward formalizing global efforts to curb fossil fuel emissions, climate activists and nations pushing for more aggressive regulations on non-renewables torched the summit as having been unnecessarily influenced by fossil fuel lobbyists and special interest groups.
In a speech before the conference, Anne Rasmussen, head negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, called out the “litany of loopholes” granted to fossil fuel economies. “We have made an incremental advancement over business as usual when what we really needed is an exponential step change in our actions and support.”
