NEW DELHI: World Meteorological Organisation Tuesday said 2023 was the hottest year on record, with mean temperature nearing the critical 1.5° Celsius threshold over a 12-month period and the trend continued in the first two months of this year.
For India, 2023 was the second warmest year on record in the country since 1901.
Its annual ‘State of Climate’ Report showed that the global mean near-surface temperature in 2023 was 1.45 ± 0.12 degree Celsius above the 1850–1900 average, turning it the warmest year in the 174-year history of record-keeping.
Besides, it broke records on all climate indicators, including greenhouse gas levels, ocean heat, sea level rise, Antarctica sea ice loss and glacier retreat.
Touching the critical 1.5 degree Celsius threshold or temporarily crossing it, however, does not mean that the world will permanently exceed the 1.5° Celsius level, the threshold specified in the Paris Agreement which basically refers to long-term warming over many years.
“Never have we been so close – albeit on a temporary basis at the moment – to the 1.5° C limit of the Paris Agreement on climate change,” said WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo, sounding the red alert to the world, which has been making efforts to keep global average temperature rise within 1.5° C limit by the end of the century.
“Climate change is about much more than temperatures. What we witnessed in 2023, especially with the unprecedented ocean warmth, glacier retreat and Antarctic sea ice loss, is cause for particular concern,” she said.
IMD had in January said the annual mean land surface air temperature over India was 0.65° Celsius during 2023, above the long term average (1981-2010 period), making it the second warmest year on record.
The highest warming in the country was observed in 2016 when the anomaly was 0.71° Celsius.
WMO’s report showed that Antarctic sea ice extent was by far the lowest on record in 2023, with the maximum extent at the end of winter at 1 million sq km below the previous record year — equivalent to the size of France & Germany combined. The report also highlighted the extreme weather events that struck the world last year.
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