With global temperatures coming dangerously close to the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement, 2023 set a new record as the hottest year ever recorded.
According to data announced by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)—the European Commission’s climate change observatory—on Tuesday, 9 January, the global average temperature reached 14.98°C, that being 0.17°C higher than the previous record set in 2016. It was also 0.60°C higher than the 1991–2020 average and 1.48°C higher than the 1850–1900 pre-industrial level.
This year marks the first time that every day exceeded the pre-industrial level by 1°C; nearly 50% of days were warmer by 1.5°C or more. Annual average temperatures were the highest or close to the highest on almost all continents and in all ocean basins—with the exception of Australia.
In Europe, temperatures reached unprecedented levels, with the summer average frequently exceeding 35°C. Wildfires devastated entire regions, with more than 1,000 fires reported in Greece.
Floods also caused significant material damage, particularly in Germany. Finally, the rising sea level has become a major concern, with an average increase of 3 millimetres per year in 2023. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)