2023 will go down as the hottest year on record, according to the EU climate change service Copernicus. “The exceptional global November temperatures (…) mean that 2023 is the warmest year in recorded history,” said Copernicus deputy chief Samantha Burgess on Wednesday. On two days, the global average temperature exceeded the pre-industrial seasonal average temperature by more than two degrees. The data is likely to increase pressure on the negotiations at the World Climate Conference (COP28) currently taking place in Dubai.
A number of heat records have already been set this year. According to Copernicus, the months from June to November were the hottest in the world since records began.
The UN reached the same conclusion as Copernicus last week: The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) preliminary climate report showed that 2023 would most likely be the hottest year on record.
According to this, the global average temperature was around 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of October. The difference to the previous record years of 2016 and 2020 is already so great that the months of November and December will no longer change the global heat record, it was said.
In order to avert the catastrophic consequences of climate change, the international community agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 to limit global warming to well below two degrees, but if possible to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era. According to a current UN forecast, the earth is currently moving towards a dangerous warming of 2.5 to 2.9 degrees by the year 2100 in view of the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
