The European Union-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced on Wednesday that Earth experienced its hottest summer on record, with August being the hottest month by a large margin.
The latest data revealed that the global average temperature this summer reached 16.77 degrees Celsius (62.19 Fahrenheit). This year’s average is 0.66 degrees Celsius higher than the 1990 to 2020 average, surpassing the previous record registered in August 2019 by nearly 0.3 degrees Celsius.
According to the C3S monthly climate bulletin, August 2023 was approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the preindustrial average for 1850-1900, followed by July 2023.
The report mentioned that August experienced the highest global monthly average sea surface temperatures (SST) on record across all months, at 20.98 degrees Celsius, setting a new record that exceeds the previous one from March 2016.
“Our planet has just endured a season of simmering –the hottest summer on record. Climate breakdown has begun. Scientists have long warned what our fossil fuel addiction will unleash,” António Guterres, UN Secretary-General said.
In this regard, the UN Secretary-General called world leaders to take urgent action to address climate change. He added, “We can still avoid the worst of climate chaos – and we don’t have a moment to lose.”
World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas stated that the northern hemisphere, including parts of the United States, and Europe, witnessed the hottest summer, featuring repeated heatwaves.
“The northern hemisphere just had a summer of extremes – with repeated heatwaves fuelling devastating wildfires, harming health, disrupting daily lives, and wreaking a lasting toll on the environment. In the southern hemisphere, Antarctic sea ice extent was literally off the charts, and the global sea surface temperature was once again at a new record. It is worth noting that this is happening BEFORE we see the full warming impact of the El Niño event, which typically plays out in the second year after it develops,” Taalas added.