The United Nations on Tuesday (Mar 19) confirmed that the global heat records were “smashed” last year with 2023 rounding out the hottest decade on record.
“The state of the climate in 2023 gave ominous new significance to the phrase ‘off the charts’,” the World Meteorological Organization (WHO) said as it published an annual report on the global climate.
Rising temperatures of oceans and acidification, glaciers losing unprecedented amounts of ice, alarming greenhouse gas levels, and sea level rise, were some allaping climate-related trends.
The report by WHO confirmed that last year was the hottest on record, and 2014-2023 was the hottest decade ever measured.
The report stated that the global average near-surface temperature at 1.45 °Celsius (with a margin of uncertainty of ± 0.12 °C) above the pre-industrial baseline. It was the warmest ten-year period on record.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Sirens are blaring across all major indicators… Some records aren’t just chart-topping, they’re chart-busting. And changes are speeding-up.”
“Climate change is about much more than temperatures. What we witnessed in 2023, especially with the unprecedented ocean warmth, glacier retreat and Antarctic sea ice loss, is cause for particular concern,” she said.
The report mentioned that on an average day in 2023, approximately one-third of the world’s ocean was affected by a marine heatwave, threatening critical ecosystems and food systems. By the end of 2023, more than 90% of the ocean had experienced heatwaves at some point in the year.
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The preliminary data reveals that the global set of reference glaciers suffered the largest loss of ice on record (since 1950), driven by extreme melt in both western North America and Europe.
Antarctic sea ice extent was by far the lowest on record, with the maximum extent at the end of winter at 1 million km2 below the previous record year.
“The climate crisis is THE defining challenge that humanity faces and is closely intertwined with the inequality crisis – as witnessed by growing food insecurity and population displacement, and biodiversity loss,” said Saulo.
(With inputs from agencies)
