Science: EU Climate Change Service: The summer of 2023 was hotter than ever

Sciences EU Climate Change Service: The summer of 2023 was hotter than ever

Globally, the summer of 2023 was the hottest on record since records began in 1940. The European Union’s climate change service Copernicus announced this on Wednesday for the three months from June to August. The average temperature during this period was 16.77 degrees, 0.66 degrees higher than average, and much higher than the previous record year of 2019 of 16.48 degrees.

“Global temperature records will continue to fall in 2023,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus. “The warmest August follows the warmest July and June and leads to the warmest northern summer in our dataset, dating back to 1940.” She added that there have also been sea surface temperature anomalies in the North Atlantic and Global Oceans in recent months.

The year so far (January to August) is the second hottest on record after 2016, when a strong El Niño warming phenomenon occurred. The climate phenomenon is currently escalating again, which raises concern for climate experts in the coming period.

Guterres: The worst climate chaos can still be prevented

“Our climate is collapsing faster than we can handle extreme weather events affecting every corner of the planet,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said of the Copernicus data. He called on heads of state and government to take action. “We can still prevent the worst of climate chaos – and we don’t have a moment to waste.”

“The scientific evidence is overwhelming,” said Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus. “We will continue to see record climate change and more severe and frequent extreme weather events impacting society and ecosystems until we stop emitting greenhouse gases.” 2023 is currently only 0.01 degrees behind the current record holder in 2016.

August was warmer than ever, as Copernicus reported in the English city of Reading. The average Earth temperature of 16.82 degrees was 0.71 degrees above average in the years 1991 to 2000 and an estimated 1.5 degrees higher than in the pre-industrial era from 1850 to 1900. This made August the second hottest month Warmest ever. Only in the previous month of July was it warmer at 16.95 degrees.

The results are based on computer-generated analyzes using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world. Climate researchers can reconstruct historical climate from tree rings, air bubbles in glaciers and coral reefs, among other things.

dpa