2023 broke several heat records. (Image: Adobe Stock – Naseem / Unity Picks)
Over the last year there have been repeated reports of heat records being exceeded. For example, in July 2023 was Hottest day ever worldwide with an average temperature of 17.08 degrees Celsius.
Researchers from the European Union’s Earth Science Team recently discovered a Analysis of global temperatures 2023
A map shows how record-breaking the year 2023 was.
But not only that: Researchers are not sure what causes this could be.
A notice: He sees that climate change exists and is man-made Weltklimarat IPCC as a fact. The latest IPCC report is from March 2023. We can all do something to combat climate change as effectively as possible. Be it through a more conscious, climate-friendly lifestyle or a donation to organizations like NABU, Unicef or Greenpeacewho are committed to climate protection
2023: The warmest year so far
The dataset used by the EU research team was also used by researchers from the NASAthe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Berkeley Earth, a non-profit research institution. They all come to a very similar result: 2023 was an absolute record year.
What makes 2023 so special in terms of climate? According to Berkeley Earth, around a third of humanity lives in regions that have recorded local heat records. There were national heat records in 77 countries worldwide.
Gavin Schmidt, NASA’s senior climate scientist, was somewhat impressed by the results:
»We are frankly astonished.«
You can see how much some regions have warmed up on the following map. It roughly shows how much the temperature of a region is above or below the average for the respective area. It is noticeable that almost all regions are well above average or even have records.
The map shows where in the world temperatures exceeded average last year. Dark red areas represent broken heat records. (Image: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Temperatures pose a mystery
How do the records come about? Berkeley Earth has published a matching graphic that shows exactly which factors will have the greatest impact on our climate in 2023. People are by far the biggest factor.
In addition to the man-made causes, El Niño/La Niña is particularly noticeable, although last year’s El Niño is considered comparatively mild (via ArsTechnica
El Niño and La Niña cause the greatest fluctuations, but even with the heights of El Niño 2023, researchers are unsure about the causes of the many heat records. (Image: Berkeley Earth)
Was ist El Niño/La Niña? This is a recurring weather phenomenon that regularly causes elevated temperatures in certain regions. You can find out more about this in the article by colleague Patrick:
Data is a mystery: Despite the data surrounding the causes of increased temperatures in 2023, NASA’s Gavin Schmidt says they are unsure how temperatures could rise so much.
»The El Niño we experienced is not an exceptional one. […] Either this El Niño is different than all the others… or there are other factors at play.”
He also said that there are usually a limited number of “stories” from which one can choose to explain the behavior of a given year. But none of them really seem to fit for 2023.
In keeping with the statement from NASA’s climate research chief, Berkeley Earth has published a chart of sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic. The temperature there has been rising steadily for years, but this year the temperatures have made an unusually wide jump. Here, too, the researchers cannot fully explain the rapid rise in temperature.
The North Atlantic heated up significantly more last year than in previous years. Another mystery for climate researchers. (Image: Berkeley Earth)
Are there any theories that could explain the sudden increase? Climate scientist James Hansen argues that we are about to enter a new phase of global warming, with temperatures rising much faster than before.
“We would be damned fools and bad scientists if we didn’t expect global warming to accelerate.”
– James Hansen (TheGuardian.com)
However, most climate scientists do not yet see any compelling evidence for this.
Since El Niño conditions will continue into 2024, we can expect another very hot year regardless of changing trends. So it could take a few more years until it becomes clear whether 2023 was an exceptional year or a sign of new developments.
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