Records with “disastrous consequences” for the world: July 2023 was indeed the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, confirmed, Tuesday August 8, the European service Copernicus, detailing data which panics all the counters. Last month, marked by heat waves and fires across the world, was 0.33°C warmer than the month that held the record so far (July 2019, which averaged 16.63°C ). The air temperature was also 0.72°C warmer than the average (1991-2020) for July, Copernicus said in its bulletin.
The suspense was limited: as early as July 27, even before the end of the month, scientists had deemed it “extremely likely” that July 2023 would be the hottest month on record, all seasons combined. A dark observation that had made the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, say that humanity had left the era of global warming to enter that of “global boiling”.
The oceans also bear witness to this worrying development, with abnormally high surface temperatures since April and unprecedented levels in July. An absolute record was thus reached on July 30, with 20.96°C, and for the whole month, the surface temperature was 0.51°C above the average (1991-2020).
The recent heat waves in Europe and the United States, “virtually impossible” without the effect of human activity.
“We just [reached] new records for both global air temperatures and [for] ocean surface in July. These records have disastrous consequences for people and the planet, exposed to more frequent and intense extreme events,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the European Copernicus Service on Climate Change.
The signs of global warming caused by human activities – starting with the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) – have indeed appeared simultaneously throughout the world. They are ubiquitous: Greece partly ravaged by flames, as well as Canada, otherwise the victim of terrible floods; blistering heat over southern Europe; North Africa, the south of the United States and part of China, victim shortly after of torrential rains…
The scientific network World Weather Attribution has already concluded that the recent heat waves in Europe and the United States would have been “virtually impossible” without the effect of human activity. Copernicus also announces that the Antarctic sea ice has reached its lowest extent for a month of July since the start of satellite observations, at 15% below the average for this month.
“The Urgency to Accomplish Ambitious Efforts”
“2023 is the third warmest year so far with 0.43°C above the recent average” and “a July global average temperature of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”, points out also Samantha Burgess. This figure of 1.5°C is highly symbolic, as it is the most ambitious limit set by the 2015 Paris agreement to limit global warming. However, the threshold referred to in this international agreement relates to averages over many years and not over a single month.
“Even if all of this is only temporary, it shows the urgency of ambitious efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main cause of these records,” concludes Samantha Burgess.
The year 2023 may not have finished breaking records. “A relatively warm end of the year is expected for 2023 due to the development of the El Niño phenomenon”, recalls Copernicus. This cyclical climatic phenomenon over the Pacific is indeed synonymous with additional global warming.