Unexpected September heat means 2023 is now on way to be the warmest year on record

Global average temperatures for January through to September were 1.4 degrees Celsius higher than the preindustrial period of 1850 to 1900 noted by The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

The current hottest year on record—this was just over 0.5 degrees Celsius higher than average and 0.05 degrees Celsius higher the equivalent period in 2016.

Scientists at C3S added September logged the largest temperature anomalies of any year stretching back to 1940, with the month as a whole found to be a staggering 1.75 degrees Celsius warmer when compared to the preindustrial reference period.

The month of September’s temperature anomalies prompted one researcher to describe the findings as nothing less than “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas.”

One of the main reasons is the burning of fossil fuels owing to which extreme heat is fueled by the climate crisis.

“The unprecedented temperatures for the time of year observed in September — following a record summer — have broken records by an extraordinary amount,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in a statement.

“This extreme month has pushed 2023 into the dubious honour of first place — on track to be the warmest year and around 1.4°C above preindustrial average temperatures.”

Burgess said that two months out from the COP28 climate conference, “the sense of urgency for ambitious climate action has never been more critical.”

From November 30 to December 12 there will be talks on how to address the worsening climate crisis by the world leaders in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Humankind has unlocked the gateways to hell

A landmark accord which is universally expected is 2015 Paris Agreement, that aims to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. To this a important U.N report published last month confirmed that the world is currently not on track to meet the long-term goals of this agreement.

The globe has already warmed by around 1.1 degrees Celsius after burning fossil fuels over a century as well as unequal and unsustainable energy and land use. There is no doubt, owing to the temperature increase that is fueling a series of extreme weather events around the world.

For Europe, scientists at C3S said September 2023 was the warmest September on record at more than 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than the 1991 to 2020 average and 1.1 degrees Celsius than September 2020, the previous warmest.

C3S added El Niño conditions continued to develop over the equatorial eastern Pacific as well.

El Niño, naturally occurring climate pattern that subsidizes to higher temperatures to whole globe. The U.N. weather agency declared the onset of El Niño on July 4, warning its return paves the way for a likely spike in global temperatures and extreme weather conditions.

Pope Francis cautioned on Wednesday that “the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.”

His comments followed a dire warning from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres last month.

Speaking at the U.N. headquarters in New York City in mid-September, Guterres said “humanity has opened the gates to hell.”

“Horrendous heat is having horrendous effects,” he added. “Distraught farmers watching crops carried away by floods; Sweltering temperatures spawning disease; And thousands fleeing in fear as historic fires rage.”