The UN agency warned that 2023 marked a year of
unprecedented climate records being shattered, as extreme weather events left
behind a trail of widespread devastation and despair. The US National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration previously calculated that there was a “greater
than 99% chance” that 2023 would be the hottest year in its 174-year dataset.
This followed six record warm months in a row, including the northern
hemisphere’s warmest summer and autumn.
The margin of some of these records is “really astonishing,”
considering they are averages across the whole world. “What struck me was not
just that [2023] was record-breaking, but the amount by which it broke previous
records,” notes Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric science at Texas
A&M University.
The recent temperature boost is mainly linked to the rapid
switch to El Niño conditions, which has occurred on top of long-term
human-caused warming. El Niño is a natural event where warmer surface waters in
the East Pacific Ocean release additional heat into the atmosphere. But air
temperatures have been boosted unusually early on in this El Niño phase—the
full effects had not been expected until early 2024, after El Niño had reached
maximum strength. This has left many scientists unsure about exactly what is
going on with the climate.
The world will look back at 2023 as the year humanity
exposed its inability to tackle the climate crisis. The consequences of this
are felt worldwide, and it is imperative that we take action to mitigate the
effects of climate change. We must reduce our carbon footprint, invest in
renewable energy, and take steps to protect our planet for future generations.