Within the Northern Hemisphere’s hottest summer season on document, August got here in second on the record to solely July. Though the summer season of 2023 established a document for the season, the scale of the benchmarks and essential statistics present how unusual the season was.
In keeping with knowledge launched Wednesday by the Copernicus Local weather Change Service, for example, August was roughly 1.5°C (2.7°F) above the preindustrial common, proving as soon as extra that for temporary durations, the world is already brushing towards a major threshold included within the Paris Settlement.
The primary eight months of this 12 months are the second-warmest on document for that point interval. It falls simply 0.1°C (0.18°F) wanting the 2016 document holder.
It’s anticipated that 2023 will surpass 2016 to seize the highest rank given the presence of a rising El Nio phenomenon within the tropical Pacific Ocean, which raises the temperature of the oceans and environment.
Zooming out August noticed extraordinarily heat ocean temperatures world wide, with every day of the month seeing common sea floor temperatures that broke earlier information.
Hurricane forecasters elevated the anticipated variety of tropical storms and hurricanes throughout this season because of the North Atlantic sea floor temperatures setting document highs all through the month.
And because the Antarctic winter got here to an finish, Copernicus found that sea ice extent there remained on the lowest degree ever recorded for the time of 12 months, with a month-to-month worth that was 12% beneath common.
These knowledge factors could seem obscure or unrelated to on a regular basis life when seen alone. Nonetheless, through the summer season, hazardous warmth waves struck on land and within the water, elevating common temperatures.
In keeping with scientists, the El Nio phenomenon and human-caused local weather change are the principle causes of the extreme warmth.
A “Local weather Ambition Summit” on the U.N. later this month will happen towards the backdrop of the acute warmth and climate occasions occurring all world wide, together with devastating flooding in Greece and warmth domes all through the U.S. and Canada.
What they’re saying: “International temperature information proceed to tumble in 2023, with the warmest August following on from the warmest July and June, resulting in the warmest boreal summer season in our knowledge document going again to 1940,” mentioned Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Local weather Change Service.
“The scientific proof is overwhelming —we’ll proceed to see extra local weather information and extra intense and frequent excessive climate occasions impacting society and ecosystems, till we cease emitting greenhouse gases,” Burgess mentioned.
Originally posted 2023-09-07 04:28:27.