Organization: Global Temperature Rises by 1.4 Degrees Celsius in 2023
The World Meteorological Organization stated on Thursday that the year 2023 witnessed an increase in the Earth’s temperature by approximately 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial revolution levels, representing a new record-breaking figure for the climate.
The organization’s initial report on global climate conditions confirms that 2023 will be the warmest year ever recorded by a significant margin, surpassing the previous record set in 2016 when the world was about 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial average.
This adds to the pressure on world leaders as they strive for a gradual transition away from fossil fuels during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), which began on Thursday in Dubai.
Peter Yttalas, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, stated, “Greenhouse gas levels have reached a record high, global temperatures have reached a record high, sea level rise has reached a record high, and sea ice in the Antarctic is at a record low.”
However, the report’s findings do not imply that the world is about to exceed the long-established maximum limit of a 1.5-degree Celsius temperature increase, which scientists argue will begin to have catastrophic climate change effects, as per the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The temperature rise in 2023 provides a frightening glimpse of what a permanent exceedance of the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold could mean.
The report mentioned that the sea ice extent in the Antarctic this year reached its lowest level ever recorded during the winter season, which is about one million square kilometers less than the previous record.
Additionally, the report noted that Swiss glaciers lost about 10% of their remaining volume in the past two years, and wildfires in Canada consumed a record area, approximately five percent of the country’s forests.
