Burning Records: 2023 Nears Unprecedented Global Heat Highs
05.10.2023 posted by Admin
Unprecedented heat in September has pushed the planet closer to a historic high-temperature record.
According to the European climate change service, Copernicus, the year 2023 is well on its way to becoming the hottest year ever recorded.
The month of September witnessed an array of temperature anomalies worldwide, following an exceptionally scorching summer, as revealed in Copernicus' monthly climate report. This report, released on Wednesday, compiles data from satellites, ships, aircraft, and weather stations globally, scrutinizing changes in global surface air temperature, sea ice coverage, and hydrological indicators.
September witnessed several temperature records being shattered by an extraordinary margin due to never-before-seen high temperatures for that time of the year. Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, expressed this in a statement. The entire month was approximately 1.75 degrees Celsius (3.2 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than the September average for the preindustrial reference period of 1850 to 1900, according to the report.
Now, 2023 is anticipated to conclude as the hottest year ever recorded worldwide, with temperatures about 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to Burgess.
This figure is alarmingly close to the goal set by the Paris Agreement, aiming to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
In September 2023, the average global surface air temperature measured at 16.38 degrees Celsius, or roughly 61.48 degrees Fahrenheit, almost 1 degree Celsius above the September average from 1991 to 2020. This surpasses the previous record set in 2020 by 0.5 degrees Celsius, as reported by Copernicus.
The global temperature in September 2023 exhibited the most significant deviation from the average, not only for the month of September but for any month in the dataset dating back to 1940, according to the researchers.
Among the continents that experienced warmer-than-usual conditions in September was Europe, which exceeded its prior record by 1.1 degrees Celsius.
Antarctic sea ice extent also remained at a record low level during September. Both the daily and monthly extents reached their lowest annual maxima in the satellite record in September, with the monthly extent being 9% below the average, according to the report.
Models suggest that both greenhouse gas emissions and El Niño conditions in the equatorial eastern Pacific are likely contributing factors to the new global temperature records.
With El Niño conditions predicted to intensify throughout the year, the temperature anomaly for 2023 could follow the trends observed in the summer and September of 2023, breaking the previous record by a substantial margin.
Globally, 2023 has already witnessed the hottest summer on record, numerous record-breaking months, including July and August, and consecutive days with the highest recorded temperatures on Earth at the beginning of July.
The last time the Earth experienced a year with temperatures below the average was in 1976.
According to the European climate change service, Copernicus, the year 2023 is well on its way to becoming the hottest year ever recorded.
The month of September witnessed an array of temperature anomalies worldwide, following an exceptionally scorching summer, as revealed in Copernicus' monthly climate report. This report, released on Wednesday, compiles data from satellites, ships, aircraft, and weather stations globally, scrutinizing changes in global surface air temperature, sea ice coverage, and hydrological indicators.
September witnessed several temperature records being shattered by an extraordinary margin due to never-before-seen high temperatures for that time of the year. Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, expressed this in a statement. The entire month was approximately 1.75 degrees Celsius (3.2 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than the September average for the preindustrial reference period of 1850 to 1900, according to the report.
Now, 2023 is anticipated to conclude as the hottest year ever recorded worldwide, with temperatures about 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to Burgess.
This figure is alarmingly close to the goal set by the Paris Agreement, aiming to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
In September 2023, the average global surface air temperature measured at 16.38 degrees Celsius, or roughly 61.48 degrees Fahrenheit, almost 1 degree Celsius above the September average from 1991 to 2020. This surpasses the previous record set in 2020 by 0.5 degrees Celsius, as reported by Copernicus.
The global temperature in September 2023 exhibited the most significant deviation from the average, not only for the month of September but for any month in the dataset dating back to 1940, according to the researchers.
Among the continents that experienced warmer-than-usual conditions in September was Europe, which exceeded its prior record by 1.1 degrees Celsius.
Antarctic sea ice extent also remained at a record low level during September. Both the daily and monthly extents reached their lowest annual maxima in the satellite record in September, with the monthly extent being 9% below the average, according to the report.
Models suggest that both greenhouse gas emissions and El Niño conditions in the equatorial eastern Pacific are likely contributing factors to the new global temperature records.
With El Niño conditions predicted to intensify throughout the year, the temperature anomaly for 2023 could follow the trends observed in the summer and September of 2023, breaking the previous record by a substantial margin.
Globally, 2023 has already witnessed the hottest summer on record, numerous record-breaking months, including July and August, and consecutive days with the highest recorded temperatures on Earth at the beginning of July.
The last time the Earth experienced a year with temperatures below the average was in 1976.