After data published by those responsible for the European Copernicus program, three scientific institutions, including the World Meteorological Organization, in turn confirmed on Friday that the year 2023 had been the hottest year on record.
This time it is three of the major non-European institutions which in turn confirm it: the year 2023 will indeed have been the hottest year ever recorded in recent human history, according to the UN World Meteorological Organization, NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
A few days earlier, the European Copernicus agency had published the same press release.
The question is whether 2023 will remain a high point or just another step on the path to annual heat records.
According to Russ Vose, head of the analysis branch of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, the projections are not encouraging and 2024 could break the record again. “We say there’s about a 1 in 3 chance that 2024 will be warmer than 2023, and we think there’s a 99% chance that 2024 will be in the top five.”
Scientists say there are two main contributing factors: carbon dioxide emissions (of human origin) and the El Niño phenomenon, which began warming the Pacific again last year, the interactions of which are difficult to control by the man.
The World Meteorological Organization specifies that 2023 was 1.45°C warmer compared to the pre-industrial average. NOAA data shows that last year also set a record for ocean temperatures.
Officials from the three institutions reiterate the warning that global climate change is not manifested by an absolute increase in temperature, but by a significantly increased likelihood of extreme weather events like prolonged abnormal heat and cold waves, precipitation extreme, destructive floods.