Climate: 2023, the year of all records! Extreme temperatures expected
The month of June 2023 has entered the history of meteorology as the hottest ever recorded on Earth in years.
Forecasters are already concerned about the outcome of the current year, with overheating oceans and global heat records.
2023, the year of all records? After a month of June identified by the European Climate Change Observatory Copernicus as the hottest ever recorded globally, temperatures in France have once again exceeded 30°C this weekend. The mercury even reached 38°C in certain areas.
“June was the hottest month globally, more than 0.5°C above the 1991-2020 average, far surpassing the previous record set in June 2019,” said the observatory, whose data, dating back to 1950, is among the most reliable and widely used in the world, along with that of the US NOAA.
Indeed, the average global temperature in June 2023 was 16.51°C, which is 0.53°C above the average of the previous three decades. Prior to that, the last record set in June 2019 was only 0.37°C above those norms.
Global threshold of 17°C exceeded
In detail, temperatures broke records in northwest Europe, while certain parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Asia, and eastern Australia “were significantly hotter than normal,” according to Copernicus.
And that’s not all. On Monday, July 3rd, global average temperature records were broken for all months combined: for the first time since measurements began in 1979, the global average mercury exceeded 17°C.
The curve, established by the University of Maine in the United States and visualizing the average global temperature for each day of the year since 1979, reached 17.01°C on that day. This record was surpassed the following day, Tuesday, July 4th, with 17.18°C, and then on Thursday, July 5th, with 17.23°C.
Among forecasters and climatologists, concern is rising. “It is highly likely that we are experiencing the hottest days on Earth in 120,000 years,” warned agroclimatologist Serge Zaka.
“It is highly likely that we are experiencing the hottest days on Earth in 120,000 years. The statistical deviation is impressive!
“The statistical deviation is impressive! None of the world leaders have reacted to this situation that alarms scientists. None,” he added.
Overheating oceans
In addition to this, there is the overheating of the oceans, due to climate change and the return of the El Niño phenomenon. The average temperature reached 19.7°C on the ocean surface in May 2023, which is 0.26°C above the average established between 1991 and 2020, according to Copernicus. During that month, 21°C were recorded on the Marseille coast, 22°C in Nice, 20°C in Royan, and 19°C off the coast of Biarritz.
According to Météo-France, overheating of the oceans can cause “sometimes irreversible effects such as ice melting, sea level rise, ocean heatwaves, and ocean acidification. The capacity to absorb CO2 is also decreasing, while currently the ocean absorbs 25% of all carbon dioxide emissions.”
Moreover, this warming of the waters threatens fish, oysters, and certain species of algae. It also presents risks for fishing as it leads to changes in the distribution of species worldwide, according to a report by the IPCC published in 2019 and relayed by Météo-France.
“Changes in the distribution of fish populations have reduced the overall catch potential. In the future, this potential will further decrease in certain regions, particularly tropical oceans, but increase in others, such as the Arctic,” wrote the French meteorological institute.
