Faced with a negative record, the warmest year ever since official records began, the global community finds itself in 2023. Extreme temperatures, floods and disasters that have caused chaos and cost lives automatically sound the alarm. and recall the lack of mobilization and active action in the face of climate change.
The scientists’ estimates of a few months ago have been confirmed: 2023 was the warmest year of the last 174 years. Even after the summer, high temperatures did not drop, with September, October and November recording record high temperatures. Just before this year ended, the World Meteorological Service had also sounded the alarm, citing record heat, rising sea surface temperatures and rising water levels. Scientist Zeke Hosfader of the temperature data analysis organization, Berkeley Earth, for his part also confirmed the ominous predictions for 2023.
According to official data, from January to November the global surface temperature was 1.4 degrees above pre-industrial levels. It was also 0.3 °C higher than the immediately preceding warmest year, 2016. The El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific as well as climate change contributed to the alarming results.
History will also go down on July 30, 2023, when the sea surface temperature reached 20.96 degrees Celsius, according to the Copernicus Institute.
2023 was also marked by a remarkable drought with France not “seeing” rain for 32 days from January to February and Spain also experiencing an absence of rain for over 100 days.
A series of publications, including that of the Guardian, refer at length to the problem facing the planet, which seems to be getting bigger.
As the British newspaper writes, in fact, 2023 will – according to the experts – go down in history as the year when the failure to deal with the phenomenon of overheating will be discussed.
Former Nasa scientist James Hansen highlights in particular:
“When our children and grandchildren look back on history, this year and the next will be seen as turning points where the failure of governments to tackle climate change was finally exposed.”
“Governments have not only failed to stop global warming, but its rate has actually accelerated,” he added.
After the hottest July in 120,000 years, scientist Hansen warned that the world is heading for new negative records with temperatures expected to be hotter than at any time in millions of years.
Scientists are still processing the data from this alarmingly warm year.
Recall that some time ago, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that there is a “greater than 99% probability” that 2023 will be the warmest year in the last 174 years. It was preceded by six record warm months in a row, including the warmest summer and autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.
In December, many parts of the world experienced their warmest Christmas on record. As the new year approaches, temperature records continue to be broken in central Asia, South America, Europe and Australia.
Wildfires have burned a record area in Canada and Europe and killed about 100 people in Lahaina on the island of Maui.
Source: protothema.gr
