Climate Crisis

This year will be the hottest on record, scientists say

November 2023 was the warmest November on record globally, 0.85C above the 1991-2020 average

Water-carrying helicopters were used to try and douse the flames of a wildfire in Hawaii in November 2023, the warmest November on record globally. Photograph: Dan Dennison/AP

Wed Dec 6 2023 - 08:14

European Union scientists said on Wednesday that 2023 would be the warmest year on record, as global mean temperature for the first 11 months of the year hit the highest level on record, 1.46C above the 1850-1900 average.

The record comes as governments are in marathon negotiations on whether to, for the first time, phase out the use of CO2-emitting coal, oil and gas, the main source of warming emissions, at the Cop28 summit in Dubai.

The temperature for the January-November period was 0.13C higher than the average for the same period in 2016, currently the warmest calendar year on record, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said.

November 2023 was the warmest November on record globally, with an average surface air temperature of 14.22C, 0.85C above the 1991-2020 average for November and 0.32C above the previous warmest November, in 2020, Copernicus said.

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This year “has now had six record breaking months and two record breaking seasons. The extraordinary global November temperatures, including two days warmer than 2C above preindustrial, mean that 2023 is the warmest year in recorded history”, deputy director of Copernicus Samantha Burgess said in a statement.

The boreal autumn September–November was also the warmest on record globally by a large margin, with an average temperature of 15.30C, 0.88C above average, EU scientists said.

“As long as greenhouse gas concentrations keep rising, we can’t expect different outcomes from those seen this year. The temperature will keep rising and so will the impacts of heatwaves and droughts. Reaching net zero as soon as possible is an effective way to manage our climate risks,” Copernicus director, Carlo Buontempo added.

According to Met Éireann, November rain dominated much of last month but overall it was warmer and sunnier than average in Ireland.

Storm Debi and Ciarán saw large amounts of rain and damaging winds sweep across parts of Ireland with the first two thirds of November seeing Atlantic low pressure systems dominate.

That led to above average temperatures with rain or showers on most days, particularly in the west and northwest. The final third of the month saw high pressure having more of an influence with drier and progressively cooler conditions coming in.

[ November was warmer and sunnier than average despite Storm Debi bringing heavy rain ]

Efforts are lagging to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of keeping the global temperature rise below two degrees above pre-industrial levels, beyond which scientists warn of a severe impact on weather, health and agriculture.

The EU has among the most ambitious climate change policies of any major economy, having passed laws to deliver its 2030 target to cut net emissions by 55 per cent from 1990 levels, which analysts say is the minimum needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. – Reuters

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