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Why 2023 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record

Why 2023 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record


 Spiking temperatures in the world’s oceans and the arrival of El Niño weather conditions in the Pacific mean that 2023 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record, with researchers saying the planet is entering “uncharted territory”.


London saw high temperatures on 9 June 2023 Guy Corbishley/Alamy

David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Exceeding 1.5°C of global warming could accelerate the melting of polar ice caps

Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images



The previous hottest year on record was 2016, which is also when the world was last in a warming El Niño weather pattern (although some agencies say 2020 also tied for the top spot). Now, temperature records this month suggest 2023 could be tracking close to 2016. The first 11 days of June registered the highest global temperatures on record for this time of the year, according to Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation programme, following on from the second-warmest May on record and the fourth-warmest April.

The peak occurred on 9 June, when the average global air temperature was 16.7°C (62°F), just 0.1°C below the warmest ever recorded on 13 August 2016.

It is important to note that, while human-driven climate change continues to raise global temperatures, there is no evidence to suggest that the process is accelerating this year. Instead, specific warming conditions are being layered on top of the 1.3°C temperature rise caused by climate change so far, pushing records ever higher.


This is how the sea surface temperatures look right now. 🟥 = Warmer than average 🟦 = Cooler than average



This spring, #ocean surface #temperatures vaulted to unprecedented levels across the globe.⁠

Sea surface temperature map courtesy of @nasa #scientificvisualizationstudio





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