2023 Seen To Be The Warmest Year On Record; High Temperatures 'Wake Up Call' For Policymakers

Experts said that the year 2023 is seen to become the warmest year on record.

They said that the high temperatures being encountered are considered as a wake-up call for policymakers.

(Photo : Getty Images/Marcelo del Pozo)

2023 as the Warmest Year

The European Commission's Copernicus said that the summer in 2023 has broken temperature records globally by a wide margin and these record-breaking temperatures continued into September.

This phenomenon had placed 2023 on track to be the hottest year ever.

In Europe, which is warming faster than the global average, the situation is even worse because September temperatures were 2.51°C higher than what was recorded during the 1991 to 2020 average.

Copernicus Climate Change Service Deputy Director Samantha Burgess explained the implications of these temperatures and what the future holds amid this kind of weather.

Burgess pointed out the analysis showing that September 2023 was not only the warmest September on record globally, but it was different by the largest margin from any other month of any year in the data record, going back to 1940.

"This makes me nervous about what is to come. When we combine all the data together, the global air temperature records, the global sea surface temperature records, the global sea ice records, all of these indications together really show us that our climate is changing at a very rapid pace and we have to adapt to the climate that we are facing right now," Burgess said.

She noted that temperatures have temporarily exceeded 1.5°C above preindustrial temperatures for the past three months of 2023.

The expert explained that the phenomenon, in which the temperatures have exceeded, does not necessarily mean countries have broken what was stated in the Paris Agreement. Burgess said that it means in the coming days, weeks, or months, the public could experience temperatures that are above 1.5°C.

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change, which was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France on December 12, 2015.

Its overarching goal is to hold "the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels" and pursue efforts "to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels."

When it comes to the record low sea ice extent in Antarctica, the C3S deputy director said that this was down to a combination of factors, including additional heat in the atmosphere and the ocean as well as the feedback mechanisms.

Scientists further have discussions about the sea surface temperatures.

They noted that while it is important to speak about global averages to understand long-term trends and climate change indicators, this could also hide regional variability.

Experts explained that the warming of the tropical Pacific with the El Niño phenomenon combined with the warming all across the Atlantic has been the alarming in the previous years.

Wake-Up Call For Policymakers

Burgess highlighted how initiatives could save lives amid these high temperatures.

She said that there has been huge improvement when it comes to decision makers reacting to heatwave forecasts and preparing accordingly.

She noted that the recent heatwaves that impacted France over the past few years were more intense than the 2003 heatwave event but there was better heat stress planning and infrastructure in place.

This better planning led to lower mortality rates as well as an improved adaptation to the current climate.

Burgess said she was virtually certain 2023 would be the warmest year on record.

She further emphasized that the temperatures were a wake-up call for policymakers heading to the United Nations Conference of the Parties climate summit in the United Arab Emirates in December.