This year will be the hottest in history, after an “extraordinary” November, the sixth consecutive month in which records were broken, the European Copernicus service said today, at a time marked by climate negotiations at COP28.
With a global average temperature of 14.22°C, the month was 0.32°C warmer than the previous record set in November 2020.
November 2023 was also 1.75°C warmer than the November average for the period 1850-1900, which corresponds to the pre-industrial era.
The northern autumn (September to November in the northern hemisphere) is therefore the warmest in history, with 15.30°C, that is, “a wide margin” of 0.88°C above the averages .
“2023 now has six record months and two record seasons. This extraordinary month of November, which includes two days with temperatures two degrees above pre-industrial levels, makes 2023 the hottest year ever recorded in history,” said the deputy director. of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), Samantha Burgess, in a statement.
Since January, the average temperature has been the warmest ever recorded in the first 11 months of the year: 1.46°C above the climatic average of the period 1850-1900 and 0.13°C above the first 11 months 2016. date.
“As long as greenhouse gas concentrations continue to increase, we should not expect results different from those observed this year. Temperatures will continue to increase, as will the effects of heat waves and droughts,” warned C3S director Carlo Buontempo. in the statement.
The cyclical El Niño climate phenomenon over the Pacific will continue to increase temperatures in 2023, but has not yet peaked.
In November 2023, the ocean surface temperature was also the highest for this time of year, 0.25°C warmer than the previous peak, in November 2015. This new heat record adds to the other highs registered every month since April.
The extent of the ice cover in the Arctic, to the north, recorded its eighth monthly minimum in November, 4% below average. The second lowest level of the month of November was recorded in Antarctica, 9% below the average, according to Copernicus.
Drought continued last month in several regions of the United States and central and eastern Asia, and was particularly pronounced in South America.
Source: TSF
