GENEVA (AN) — Last year was the warmest on record, edging close to the Paris climate treaty's threshold, data from the U.N. weather agency shows.
The world hit the record books by a huge margin in 2023, soaring 1.45° Celsius above pre-industrial times, the World Meteorological Organization said on Friday.
That's just below the 1.5° limit set in the 2015 Paris Agreement based on scientists' warnings of what's needed to avoid the worst effects of warming.
Last year was 0.16° warmer than 2016, the previous hottest year on record, which was 1.29° above preindustrial levels partly due to a strong El Niño climate event, according to WMO data.
Global temperatures in 2023 set new monthly records in every month between June and December, with July and August becoming the hottest months ever on record.
“Climate change is the biggest challenge that humanity faces. It is affecting all of us, especially the most vulnerable,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said.
“We cannot afford to wait any longer," she said. "We have to make drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources."
Earlier in the week, European climate agency Copernicus said 2023 was 1.48° above pre-industrial times. The 196 nations signing the 2015 Paris treaty committed to hold warming this century to under 2° above pre-industrial levels from 1850 to 1900, or preferably 1.5°.
Emissions from carbon dioxide, methane and other warming gases would have to be cut by 28% by 2030 to stick to the 2° limit, and by 42% by 2030 to stick to the 1.5° limit, according to U.N. figures.
174 years of human observation
Each decade has been warmer than the previous one since the 1980s, according to WMO, and the past nine years have been the warmest on record.
In its assessment, WMO uses datasets based on climatological data from observing sites, ships and buoys in global marine networks from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies; the U.K.'s Meteorological Office Hadley Center; University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit; and climate science nonprofit Berkeley Earth.
Based on those datasets, WMO said, the 10-year average between 2014 and 2023 was 1.2° above the pre-industrial average.
Last year was the warmest in 174 years of human observation, said Colin Morice, a climate monitoring and research scientist with U.K.'s Met Office: "This warming is attributable to human-induced climate change through greenhouse gas emissions."
Humanity is 'scorching the Earth'
Global temperatures are not the only indicator of climate change. Other key factors are atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat and acidification, sea level, sea ice extent and glacier mass balance.
Atmospheric CO2 levels were around 280 parts per million for almost 6,000 years of human civilization, but after the Industrial Revolution they rose to 418 ppm in 2022.
“Humanity’s actions are scorching the Earth: 2023 was a mere preview of the catastrophic future that awaits if we don’t act now,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said of the latest temperature record.
“We can still avoid the worst of climate catastrophe," he said, "but only if we act now with the ambition required to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5° and deliver climate justice."
