WMO confirms 2023 as warmest year on record ‘ by a huge margin’
WITH the yearly average global temperature fast approaching the critical threshold of 1.5° C above preindustrial levels, last year officially smashed the global temperature record, the World Meteorological Organisation ( WMO) confirmed last week.
WMO uses six leading international datasets from across the globe to monitor global temperatures, which reveal a new annual temperature average of 1.45° C set against the pre- industrial era ( 1850- 1900).
Every month between June and December set new records. July and August were the two hottest months ever recorded, WMO said.
The 1.5° C figure is the temperature limit set out clearly in the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change but that refers to the long- term temperature increase averaged over decades, rather than an individual year like 2023.
“Climate change is the biggest challenge that humanity faces. It is affecting all of us, especially the most vulnerable,” said WMO Secretary- General Prof. Celeste Saulo, presenting the report’s findings. “We cannot afford to wait any longer. We are already taking action, but we have to do more.”
For that, Saulo explained, drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and accelerated transition to renewable energy sources are needed.
Looking ahead, the head of WMO warned that as the cooling La Nina phenomenon was replaced with a warming El Nino midway through last year - which usually has the biggest impact on global temperatures after it peaks - 2024 could be even hotter.
Celeste Saulo who became WMO Secretary- general on January 1, explained that “while El Niño events are naturally occurring and come and go from one year to the next, longer term climate change is escalating and this is unequivocally because of human activities”.
Since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one and the past nine years have been the warmest on record. The data drawn from the six datasets shows that the ten- year average temperature increase in 2014- 2023 was at about 1.20° C.
“Humanity’s actions are scorching the Earth. 2023 was a mere preview of the catastrophic future that awaits if we don’t act now. We must respond to recordbreaking temperature rises with path- breaking action,” UN chief António Guterres said in response to the latest data.