Copernicus:“2023 is the hottest year on record”

“Temperatures in 2023 are likely to exceed those of any period in the last 100,000 years”

ROME - 2023 is the hottest year ever recorded, with a global temperature close to the limit of 1.5 degrees higher decided at COP21 in Paris in 2015 as the limit within which the 'fever' of the Planet should remain.He reports it Copernicus, the European Union's satellite and land and sea observation service.

Global temperatures, in fact, have reached exceptionally high levels in 2023. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (Copernicus Climate Change Service – C3S), implemented by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission with EU funding, monitored several key climate indicators throughout the year, reporting record-breaking conditions, such as the hottest month on record and daily global temperature averages briefly exceeding pre-industrial levels by more than 2°C.The unprecedented global temperatures recorded since June have therefore led 2023 to become, as mentioned, the warmest year on record, far exceeding 2016, the previous warmest year.

In 2023 the global average temperature was 14.98°C, 0.17°C higher than the previous highest annual value in 2016.2023 was 0.60°C warmer than the 1991-2020 average and 1.48°C warmer than the pre-industrial level of 1850-1900.A 12-month period ending in January or February 2024 is likely to exceed pre-industrial levels by 1.5°C.
2023 marks the first time in history that each day of a year has exceeded the pre-industrial level of the period between 1850 and 1900 by 1°C.Nearly 50% of days were 1.5°C warmer than the level between 1850 and 1900, and two days in November were, for the first time, 2°C warmer.Average annual air temperatures were the warmest, or nearly so, on record across substantial parts of all ocean basins and all continents except Australia.Every month from June to December 2023 was warmer than the corresponding month the previous year.July and August 2023 were the two warmest months on record.The boreal summer (June-August) was also the hottest season on record.

September 2023 was the month with a greater temperature deviation above the 1991 to 2020 average than any other month in the ERA5 dataset.December 2023 was the warmest December on record globally, with an average temperature of 13.51°C, 0.85°C above the 1991 to 2020 average and 1.78°C above the level between between 1850 and 1900 for the same month.
2023 was the second warmest year for Europe, at 1.02°C above the average for the period between 1991 and 2020, 0.17°C colder than 2020, the warmest year on record.During 2023, temperatures in Europe were above average for 11 months, and September was the warmest in data history.The European winter 2022-2023 (December 2022-February 2023) was the second warmest on record. The average temperature of the European summer (June-August) was 19.63°C, an increase of 0.83°C compared to average, and was the fifth warmest in Europe on record.European autumn (September-November) recorded an average temperature of 10.96°C, equal to 1.43°C above average.This meant that autumn was the second warmest ever, just 0.03°C less than autumn 2020.

“We knew, thanks to the work of the Copernicus program throughout 2023, that we would not receive good news today.But the annual data presented here provides further evidence of the growing impact of climate change.The European Union, in line with the best available science, has agreed to a 55% emissions reduction by 2030, now just 6 years away.The challenge is clear.The Copernicus Programme, supported by the European Commission, is one of the best tools available to guide our climate actions, keep us in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement and accelerate the green transition,” he says Mauro Facchini, Head of Earth Observation at the Directorate General for Defense Industry and Space of the European Commission.

“2023 was an exceptional year, where climate records fell like dominoes.Not only is 2023 the warmest year on record, but it is also the first year with all days 1°C warmer than pre-industrial times. Temperatures in 2023 will likely exceed those of any period in the past 100,000 years“, adds Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
For Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service – C3S, “the extreme events we have observed in recent months dramatically demonstrate how far we are from the climate in which our civilization developed.This has profound consequences for the Paris Agreement and for all human endeavors.If we want to successfully manage our portfolio of climate risks, we must urgently decarbonise our economy, using climate data and knowledge to prepare for the future."

Global mean sea surface temperatures (SST) remained persistently and unusually high, reaching record levels for the April to December period of the year.2023 saw a transition to El Niño.In the spring of 2023, La Niña ended and El Niño conditions began to develop, with the WMO declaring the onset of El Niño in early July.High SSTs in most ocean basins, and particularly in the North Atlantic, have played an important role in the global SST record.Unprecedented SSTs have been associated with marine heat waves around the world, including parts of the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and North Pacific, and much of the North Atlantic.
2023 was exceptional for Antarctic sea ice:in 8 months it reached record minimum extensions for the corresponding period of the year.Both daily and monthly extensions reached historic lows in February 2023.Arctic sea ice extent at its annual peak in March was among the four lowest for that time of year in satellite records.The yearly low in September was the sixth lowest.
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane continued to increase and reached record levels in 2023, reaching 419 ppm and 1902 ppb, respectively.Carbon dioxide concentrations in 2023 were 2.4 ppm higher than in 2022, and methane concentrations increased by 11 ppb.
Numerous extreme events have been recorded around the world, including heat waves, floods, droughts and fires.Estimated global carbon emissions from wildfires in 2023 increased by 30% compared to 2022, largely due to persistent wildfires in Canada.