Planet has the hottest September on record – 10/04/2023 – Environment

The year 2023 is on track to become the hottest on record, with the global average temperature so far 0.52°C above average, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported late on Wednesday. fair (4).

The global temperature from January to September is also 1.4°C higher than the pre-industrial average (from the years 1850 to 1900), the institute added. As climate change raises global temperatures to new records, short-term weather patterns also influence temperature variations.

Last month was the hottest September on record globally, with 0.93°C above the average temperature for the same month in the period 1991-2020. The month’s global temperature was, uncharacteristically, the warmest of any year in the ERA5 dataset, which dates back to 1940.

Scientists said climate change combined with the emergence this year of the El Niño weather pattern, which warms surface waters in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, has fueled recent record temperatures.

“The unprecedented temperatures for this time of year observed in September — after a record-breaking summer — broke records by an extraordinary amount. This extreme month put 2023 in the dubious honor of first place — on track to be the hottest year and about 1 .4°C above pre-industrial average temperatures,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, said in a statement.

“With two months to go until COP28, the sense of urgency for ambitious climate action has never been more critical,” she said, referring to the UN climate change conference being held in Dubai in November and December.

Last year was not a record, although the world was 1.2°C warmer than in pre-industrial times. The previous record was set in 2016 and 2020, when temperatures were, on average, 1.25°C higher.

The average sea surface temperature for September reached 20.92°C, the highest number ever recorded for September and the second highest of all months, behind only August 2023, according to Copernicus.

The analysis is based on billions of measurements taken by satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations.

Other worrying data from 2023 is that the extent of sea ice in Antarctica has reached a negative record for this time of year, and sea ice in the Arctic is 18% below average.