2023 is the hottest year in 125,000 year.
Data over time shows that the global average temperature in 2023 has risen to record levels, making it likely to become the hottest year ever recorded.
Scientists from the European Union (EU) have stated that 2023 is “almost certainly” the hottest year in the past 125,000 years. This conclusion is based on data showing that October 2023 was the hottest October ever recorded.
On November 8, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced that October 2023 broke the record set in October 2019, becoming the hottest October in history. If this trend continues in the coming months, 2023 is highly likely to be the hottest year in 125,000 years.
C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess described the temperature anomaly in October as “extremely stark,” adding, “The previous record (from 2019) was surpassed by 0.4°C, which is a significant margin.”
This record-breaking heat is the result of continuous greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, combined with the El Niño weather phenomenon that emerged this year. El Niño has caused abnormal warming of surface seawater in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
According to Reuters, global surface air temperatures in October 2023 were 1.7°C higher than October temperatures from 1850–1900, exceeding pre-industrial levels.
In its report, C3S confirmed that 2023 is “almost certainly” the hottest year ever recorded, as October’s temperature surpassed the previous record set in 2016 — both years affected by El Niño.
C3S’s data, which dates back to 1940, combined with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), supports the assertion that 2023 is the hottest year in 125,000 years. Burgess added, “To create long-term weather data from the past, the IPCC uses methods such as analyzing ice cores, tree rings, and coral sediments.”
Before October 2023, September 2023 also marked a significant temperature anomaly.
The Earth is getting hotter every day.
Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, noted: “Most El Niño years break temperature records because the global warming effect of El Niño adds to the human-caused rate of global warming.”
Climate change is causing increasingly extreme and devastating weather events. In 2023, the world witnessed catastrophic floods in Libya that claimed thousands of lives, severe heatwaves in South America, and Canada’s worst wildfire season in history.
Piers Forster, a climate scientist at the University of Leeds, cautioned, “We must not let the floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and intense heatwaves of this year become the new normal.”
While nations worldwide have set ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, none have fully achieved them so far. In 2022, global CO₂ emissions also reached a record high.
In Conclusion reducing CO₂ emissions is critical to mitigating climate change and protecting the environment.
Actions such as using renewable, clean, and eco-friendly materials; promoting green transportation; protecting forests and land; advancing green technology; and increasing education and motivation play vital roles in achieving these goals.
Collaboration and efforts from all sectors are key to successfully reducing CO₂ emissions and ensuring a sustainable planet. We must act now to prevent the negative impacts of climate change and create a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable future for generations to come.
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