Climate crisis - Copernicus: 2023 will be the warmest year since records began
According to the EU climate change service Copernicus, the current year will be the warmest globally since records began in the middle of the 19th century. According to the organization, it is practically impossible for December to change this. The warmest year to date was 2016.
It had previously been assumed that 2023 would set a record for global average temperatures. In mid-November, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said there was a more than 99% chance that the year would be the warmest since 1850. However, none of the relevant institutions had yet fully committed themselves.
El Niño continues to have a warming effect
Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), pointed out in a statement that 2023 had set temperature records for several months at once - including November. "The exceptional global November temperatures, including two days that reached a temperature two degrees above pre-industrial levels, mean that 2023 is the warmest year on record."
When asked, a Copernicus spokesperson explained that the December temperatures would have to be extremely cold on a global average for 2023 not to be the warmest year. However, such low temperatures can be ruled out, as the natural climate phenomenon El Niño continues to have a warming effect. "That's why we can now say with great certainty that 2023 will be the warmest year since records began," said the spokesperson.
1.46 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels
Up to and including November, global average temperatures were 1.46 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial reference period of 1850-1900, Copernicus added. So far, 2023 is 0.13 degrees warmer than the first eleven months of the previous record holder 2016.
"As long as greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise, we cannot expect any different results from those observed this year," said C3S Director Carlo Buontempo. "The temperature will continue to rise and so will the impact of heatwaves and droughts."
As recently as Tuesday, the Global Carbon Budget report showed that global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are continuing to rise. According to the report, they are expected to reach a peak of 36.8 billion tons per year in 2023. This is 1.1 percent more than in 2022 and 1.4 percent more than in the pre-corona year 2019.
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Source: www.stern.de
