Copernicus: 2023, the Hottest Year

Meteorological records fell one after another throughout 2023, and Europe was no exception. Last year was the hottest in the history of meteorological recordings, with a "remarkable" advancement, probably the warmest in the last 100,000 years, announced the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) of the European Union (EU).

Scientists expected to reach this threshold after climatic records were repeatedly broken. Starting from June, each month was the warmest recorded compared to the same period in previous years. "This was an exceptional year climatically... in a league of its own, even compared to other very warm years," said C3S Director Carlo Buontempo.

C3S confirmed that 2023 was the hottest year in records dating back to 1850. At the same time, Buontempo specified that the analysis of paleoclimatic data from sources such as tree rings and air bubbles in glaciers found that 2023 was "very likely" the hottest in the last 100,000 years.

On average, in 2023, the planet was 1.48 degrees Celsius warmer compared to the pre-industrial period (1850-1900), when humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale, pumping carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. In the Paris Agreement of 2015, countries agreed to try to prevent global warming of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial values to avoid the most serious consequences. The world has not exceeded this goal, which refers to an average global temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius over the decades. However, C3S indicated that temperatures exceeding this level on almost half of the days in 2023 set a "terrible precedent."

Despite the proliferation of climate goals by governments and companies, CO2 emissions remain high. Global CO2 emissions from burning coal, oil, and gas reached record levels in 2023. Last year, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere increased to the highest recorded level, 419 parts per million (0.0419%), according to C3S. Also, 2023 was the first year when every day was over 1 degree Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial period. For the first time, two days-both in November-were 2 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial period, C3S stated. Last year was 0.17 degrees Celsius warmer than 2016, the previous hottest year, breaking this record with a "remarkable" advance, as Buontempo stated. Of the almost 30,700 days since 1940, the 46 hottest days were measured in 2023, all last summer, in July and August, according to Copernicus data analyzed by AFP.

The world's oceans also overheated in a "persistent and unusual manner," with seasonal records constantly broken since April. These unprecedented temperatures for nine months threaten marine life, amplify the intensity of storms, and warm the atmosphere. They are especially examined by climatologists considering the major regulating role played by oceans, which absorb over 90% of the excess heat caused by human activity. This increase also accelerates the melting of floating ice shelves in Greenland and Antarctica, crucial for retaining fresh water from glaciers and preventing a massive rise in sea levels. The Antarctic ice sheet reached record low levels for eight months last year. In the conditions of "extremes observed in recent months... we are currently far from the climate in which civilization could develop," warned Carlo Buontempo. In addition to human-caused climate change, in 2023, temperatures were also boosted by the meteorological phenomenon El Niño, which warms the surface waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean and contributes to global temperature rise, Reuters notes. Every fraction of temperature increase exacerbates extreme and destructive weather disasters. In 2023, the hotter planet worsened deadly heatwaves from China to Europe, extreme rains that caused floods in which thousands died in Libya, and the worst wildfire season recorded in Canada.