2023 will be the hottest year on record, according to the EU Climate Service

BRUSSELS, Oct 5 (Reuters) – This year will be the hottest on record, with global average temperatures 0.52 degrees Celsius above average, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday.

Climate change that emerged this year, the El Niño weather pattern that warms surface waters in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, also fueled the recent record-breaking temperatures, scientists said.

“The unprecedented temperature for the year seen in September – following a record summer – has broken an extraordinary amount of records. This extreme month has relegated 2023 to the dubious honor of first place – the hottest year ever and is about 1.4. C higher than the pre-industrial average temperature,” Copernicus’ deputy said. director Samantha Burgess said in a statement.

Global temperatures for January-September are 1.4C above the pre-industrial average (1850 to 1900), climate change is pushing global temperatures to new records and short-term weather patterns are also driving temperature movements.

September was the warmest month recorded globally last month, 0.93C above the average temperature for the same month in 1991-2020, and the month’s global temperature was the most unusually warm month in the ERA5 dataset. 1940.

“Two months on from COP28, the sense of urgency for ambitious climate action has never been more important,” Burgess said, referring to the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Although the world was 1.2C warmer than pre-industrial times, last year was not a record. The previous record was 2016 and 2020 with an average of 1.25°C higher.

“What is particularly worrying is that the warming El Niño event is still developing, so we can expect these record-breaking temperatures to continue for several months, with impacts on our environment and society,” said World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Talas. , refers to a climate event that causes extreme heat.

The average sea surface temperature for September reached 20.92C over 60°S-60°N, the highest recorded for September and the second highest for any month after August 2023, Copernicus said.

The body’s analysis is based on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations.

Antarctic sea ice extent was at an annual low, while Arctic sea ice extent was 18% below average.

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