Energy & Environment

The Big Story

EU scientists: 2023 'virtually certain' to be warmest year on record

The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed that last month was the warmest October ever recorded, and the year itself is "virtually certain" to break the record as well.

The past month saw an average surface air temperature of 15.3 degrees Celsius, surpassing the past three decades' average by 0.85 degrees and 2019's record by 0.4 degrees.

The only month that broke temperature records by this wide a margin was this September, according to Copernicus. Copernicus maintains data reaching back to 1940.

"October 2023 has seen exceptional temperature anomalies, following on from four months of global temperature records being obliterated," Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement. "We can say with near certainty that 2023 will be the warmest year on record, and is currently 1.43ºC above the preindustrial average. The sense of urgency for ambitious climate action going into COP28 has never been higher."

If 2023 is indeed the warmest year recorded, it would edge out the current record-holder, 2016.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

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