The Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, Samantha Burgess, reported in a statement on December 6, that 2023 will be the warmest year on record.
Copernicus explained that this conclusion was drawn based on data showing that this year has witnessed, up until now, “record-breaking months and two record-breaking seasons”, with November of 2023 becoming the warmest November on record globally, with an average surface air temperature of 14.22°C, 0.85°C above the 1991-2020 average for November and 0.32°C above the temperature of the previous warmest November, in 2020.
For his part, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, Carlo Buontempo warned that “as long as greenhouse gas concentrations keep rising we can’t expect different outcomes from those seen this year,” since temperatures will also keep rising, and so will the impacts of heatwaves and droughts, calling for collective action to reach net zero as soon as possible to effectively manage the risks of climate change.