The EU climate monitoring authorities are sounding the alarm: 2023 could become the hottest period in recorded history. This became evident in June when the average global surface temperature exceeded the 1.5°C mark.
“We have just experienced the hottest beginning to June in recorded history, following May, which was only 0.1°C cooler than the warmest May ever recorded. Monitoring our climate is more important than ever to determine how often and for how long the global temperature exceeds the 1.5-degree mark,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of C3S.
We dare remind you that the Paris Agreement on climate change aims to limit global warming to below 2°C and strives to further reduce it to 1.5°C.
According to the European Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the average global near-surface air temperature in early June was over 1.5°C higher than the pre-industrial era. This is the first indication of an extremely warm summer month.
In May 2023, the World Meteorological Organization published a report predicting that the global temperature would reach new records over the next five years. The report states categorically that there is a 66% chance that the annual global surface temperature between 2023 and 2027 will exceed the 1.5°C mark for at least one year.
The report also indicates a 98% probability that the warmest values in recorded history will be observed during the next five years and the five-year period as a whole.
Anomalous temperature – the cause of anomaly
C3S believes that with the strengthening of global warming, El Niño can be expected to cause the average global air temperature to again exceed the 1.5°C mark over the next twelve months. El Niño refers to abnormal warming of the surface waters in the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean.
This is not the first time that the global temperature has exceeded the 1.5°C threshold since the industrial era. It first occurred in December 2015 and has been recorded several times in winter and spring of 2016 and 2020 in the northern hemisphere, as noted in the C3S report.
“Every degree matters to avoid even more grave consequences of the climate crisis,” Burgess added.
With even more frequent occurrences of global average temperature exceeding 1.5°C, the consequences of global warming will become increasingly serious and complex.
Earlier, we reported on the record-low Arctic ice registered three years ago.
Based on materials from Interesting Engineering.
