Six climate services confirm: 2023 was the warmest year

So far, 2016 has been the hottest year since industrialization. The average global temperature at that time was about 1.29 degrees higher. In 2022, the weather was 1.15 degrees warmer than before industrialization.

The European climate service Copernicus reported that the average global temperature for 2023 is 1.48 degrees this week. In order to calculate it, the World Meteorological Organization also evaluated a series of measurements from three American and two British institutes. It indicates a measurement uncertainty of plus/minus 0.12 degrees. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the actual average temperature was probably 15.09 degrees. However, the measurement uncertainty is significantly larger.

The head of the World Meteorological Organization, Saul, pointed out that the natural climatic phenomenon of El Niño affected temperatures last year. It causes water temperatures in parts of the Pacific Ocean to rise and air temperatures to rise every few years. Its counterpart, the La Niña phenomenon, works to reduce temperatures.

“The fact that a cold La Niña will turn into a warm El Niño by mid-2023 is clearly reflected in the rise in temperatures last year,” Saulo said. “Because El Niño typically has the greatest impact on global temperatures after it reaches its peak, it could become even hotter in 2024.” The US meteorological agency NOAA expects the El Niño phenomenon to weaken during the spring.

The probability that 2024 will be warmer than 2023 is not particularly high, and is currently one in three, according to a joint press conference held by the US space agency NASA and the US climate agency NOAA on Friday. However, the probability that 2024 will be among the five hottest years measured to date is 99%.

The head of the World Meteorological Organization, Saulo, called on the international community to limit climate change more decisively. This requires more radical reductions in climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions and a faster transition to renewable energies. “Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity,” she said.