The world’s September temperatures were the warmest on record, breaking the previous high by a huge margin.
According to the EU climate service, last month was 0.5 degrees Celsius hotter than the previous record set in 2020.
Experts believe ongoing emissions of warming gases in addition to the El Niño weather event are driving the heat, though some are shocked by the scale of the increase.
El Niño forms part of the El Niño Southern Oscillation – during El Niño events, warm water comes to the surface in the East Pacific, releasing additional heat into the atmosphere.
BBC News says September’s high mark comes in the wake of the hottest summer on record in the northern hemisphere, as soaring temperatures show no signs of relenting.
Political leaders meeting in Paris in 2015 agreed to try and hold the rise in global temperatures under 1.5 degrees Celsius this century.
September’s figure isn’t a breach of that agreement – because the Paris target refers to decades not months – but it is undoubtedly worrying.
Scientists believe that this year as a whole will stay under the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit, but 2023 is “on track” to become the warmest on record, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Responses