The year 2023 could be the hottest ever recorded, with global temperatures during the summer in the northern hemisphere being the highest on record, the European satellite Copernicus published on Wednesday.
“The global mean surface air temperature was 16.82°C in August 2023, 0.71°C warmer than the August 1991-2020 average and 0.31°C warmer than the previous August warmer than 2016. The month is estimated to have been about 1.5°C warmer than the pre-industrial average between 1850 and 1900. Heat waves were recorded in several regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including southern Europe, southern The United States and Japan. Temperatures were also well above average in Australia, in several countries in South America and in much of Antarctica,” explains Copernicus.
In a statement, Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, states that “global temperature records continue, with the hottest boreal summer since 1940.”
“2023 currently ranks as the second warmest, just 0.01ºC behind 2016, with four months left in the year. The world ocean recorded the highest daily surface temperature ever recorded in August, making it the hottest month in the history The scientific evidence is overwhelming: as long as we continue to emit greenhouse gases, we will continue to witness more climate records and more intense and frequent extreme weather events, with an impact on society and ecosystems”, considers Samantha Burgess.
The months from June to August were the hottest in the world, with an average temperature of 16.77ºC, that is, 0.66ºC more than usual. In Europe, the average temperature during the summer was 19.63 ºC, plus 0.83 ºC.
In response to the information released by Copernicus, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, warned that the climate was “collapsing”.
“Our planet has just registered the hottest summer in its history. The collapse of the climate has already begun,” said António Guterres, quoted by the AFP news agency.
“Our climate is imploding faster than we can bear, with extreme weather events affecting every corner of the planet,” he lamented.
The European satellite Copernicus also recorded “record anomalies” in sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic and in the global ocean in August. During the summer of 2023, several maritime heat waves were also recorded in different parts of Europe, specifically in Ireland and the United Kingdom, in July, and in the Mediterranean, in July and August.
“The month of August, as a whole, registered the highest monthly average temperatures at the sea surface, with 20.98 °C, and it was well above the August average, with an anomaly of 0.55 °C North Sea Surface “The Atlantic broke the previous daily record of 24.81 °C on August 5, set in September 2022, and has been above this level almost every day since, reaching a new record of 25.19 °C on August 31”, explains the European satellite.
Above-average rainfall was recorded in the first six months of the year in most of western Europe and Turkey, with flooding in some places. Iceland, Scandinavia, Central Europe, much of Asia, Canada, southern North America and most of South America experienced “drier-than-average conditions”, with significant wildfires in some regions, mainly France, Greece, Italy and Portugal.
The northeastern and western regions of North America experienced “wetter” temperatures, with Hurricane Hilary making landfall in California and western Mexico.
Copernicus also notes that Antarctic sea ice extent “has remained at a lower level for the time of year, with a monthly value 12% lower than average, by far the largest negative anomaly recorded in August since the start of the satellite observations. In the Arctic, the extent of sea ice “was even less” than usual.
Source: TSF
