2023 Poised to Be Among Hottest Years on Record as Climate Change Impacts Intensify

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced on Tuesday that 2023 is expected to be the second or third hottest year ever recorded worldwide, potentially only surpassed by 2024’s anticipated record-breaking temperatures.

This assessment comes shortly after the COP30 climate summit, where international negotiations failed to produce significant new commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Geopolitical tensions, including the United States scaling back its climate initiatives and some countries advocating for weaker carbon reduction policies, have hampered progress.

According to C3S, 2023 will also conclude the first three-year period where the global average temperature has consistently exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels from 1850 to 1900—the benchmark period before widespread industrial fossil fuel use.

Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at C3S, emphasized the significance of these trends: "These milestones are not abstract – they reflect the accelerating pace of climate change."

The year has been marked by severe weather events around the globe, including Typhoon Kalmaegi which resulted in over 200 fatalities in the Philippines, and Spain’s most devastating wildfires in 30 years, both exacerbated by conditions linked to climate change.

Last year holds the record as the warmest on Earth. While natural variability can cause year-to-year fluctuations, climate scientists have established a definitive upward trajectory in global temperatures driven primarily by greenhouse gas emissions emitted through fossil fuel consumption.

The World Meteorological Organization reiterated earlier this year that the past decade comprises the ten warmest years since record keeping began.

The international community, under the 2015 Paris Agreement, pledged to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avert severe climate impacts. Although this threshold has not yet been crossed on a long-term average basis, the United Nations has declared that meeting the 1.5-degree goal has become unlikely without accelerated CO2 emission reductions.

C3S maintains climate records dating to 1940, corroborated with global data extending back to 1850.

The growing body of evidence underscores the urgent need for coordinated global action to mitigate climate risks and protect vulnerable communities worldwide.