SCIENTISTS have confirmed 2023 as the the hottest year on record so far.
Its average temperature was 14.98C which beats the previous hottest year set in 2016 by 0.17C, according to the EU’s climate change service Copernicus.
Met Office scientists believe this record could be short-lived however – their forecasts suggest 2024 could be even hotter and may rise more than 1.5C above the period between 1850-1900.
This average is used as a proxy for the pre-industrial climate as it is as far back as meteorological records go.
Last year came close to breaching this symbolic boundary – 1.48C above – while smashing a series of climate records in the process.
The global community committed in the Paris Agreement to try and limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels as it gives the best chance of stabilising the climate and reducing the damage to people and wildlife.
READ MORE: Disease halves profits of Scottish salmon farming firm Mowi
This measurement is taken as a decadal average so one year going beyond this does not mean the treaty has failed.
July 2023 was likely the hottest month in the last 120,000 years – almost as long as modern humans have existed – while Antarctic sea ice has been at a historic low.
Each month from June through to December was hotter than any other corresponding month in a previous year, while every continent except Australia and many ocean areas saw record-breaking annual air temperatures for the year.
El Nino, a cyclical natural phenomenon in the tropical eastern Pacific which brings heat to the surface, added an extra warming effect to the atmosphere and oceans to that from greenhouse gas emissions, which continue to rise.
Scientists are urging the global community to radically cut these emissions and prevent further warming as each fraction of a degree further destabilises the Earth’s climate.
Although changes of 1.5C in our day-to-day experience of air temperature is negligible, on a global average it has a very different meaning and the smallest changes can have large ramifications.
Some climate analysts have likened it to changes in body temperature whereby a difference of 1C can separate a healthy person from one with a fever.
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said: “2023 was an exceptional year with climate records tumbling like dominoes.
“Not only is 2023 the warmest year on record, it is also the first year with all days over 1C warmer than the pre-industrial period.
“Temperatures during 2023 likely exceed those of any period in at least the last 100,000 years.”
Emissions from wildfires also increased by 30% last year mainly because of the huge blazes across Canada.
READ MORE: Lee Anderson announces visit to Scotland despite cropping it from map
There were marine heatwaves across much of the North Atlantic, including off the British and Irish coastlines, as well as in the Caribbean and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose to a new height of 419 parts per million while methane reached a concentration of 1902 parts per billion.
Dr Nick Dunstone, a Met Office climate scientist, said: “The extraordinary global heat through 2023 made it possible to signal it would be the hottest year on record well before the year had finished. This level of warming is in line with climate projections.
“We expect the strong El Nino in the Pacific to impact the global temperature through 2024. For this reason we are forecasting 2024 to be another record breaking year, with the possibility of temporarily exceeding 1.5C for the first time.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here