We can expect more records to fall as El Nino develops further and these impacts will extend into 2024, says WMO
Climate change continued to wreak havoc across the world, with several records being broken in the last few weeks.
Close on the heels of the earth witnessing its hottest June, the world just had the hottest week on record, according to World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Early July saw mercury levels ascending to unprecedented levels. The average global temperature on July 7 was 17.24 degrees Celsius. This is 0.3°C above the previous record of 16.94 °C on August 16, 2016, according to preliminary data analysed by WMO.
The exceptional warmth in June and at the start of July occurred at the onset of the development of El Nino, which is expected to further fuel the heat both on land and in the oceans and lead to more extreme temperatures and marine heatwaves, said Christopher Hewitt, WMO director of Climate Services.
Also read: Why are so many climate records breaking all at once?
“We are in uncharted territory and we can expect more records to fall as El Nino develops further and these impacts will extend into 2024. This is worrying news for the planet,” he said.
WMO carried out the analysis based on reanalysis data from Japan. Though the reanalysis data is not yet confirmed, it is consistent with preliminary data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
“According to various datasets from our partners in different parts of the world, the first week of July set a new record in terms of daily temperatures,” said Omar Baddour, chief of climate monitoring at WMO.
The WMO and wider scientific community are closely watching these dramatic changes in different components of the climate system and sea surface temperatures, he added.
June 2023 recorded unparalleled sea surface temperatures and record-low Antarctic sea ice extent. Temperature levels soared over 0.5°C above the 1991-2020 average, breaking the previous record of June 2019, according to Copernicus — a close collaborator of WMO.
North Atlantic sea surface temperatures were off the charts, said Copernicus. June temperatures in northwest Europe were record-breaking. Canada, the United States, Mexico, Asia and eastern Australia were particularly warmer than usual, it added.
Not every region had the warmest temperatures in June; several regions, such as western Australia, the western US and western Russia, experienced colder temperatures than usual.
Both May and June saw global sea surface temperatures reach seasonal highs. This has a doppler impact: It will affect the distribution of fisheries and ocean circulation in general, with repercussions for the climate.
The entire ocean is warming and absorbing energy that will remain for hundreds of years. Moreover, record-breaking sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic are ringing alarm bells louder.
Also read: April 2023 records great variations in temperatures globally: Copernicus
The temperatures in the North Atlantic are unprecedented and of great concern. They are much higher than anything the models predicted, said Michael Sparrow, head of WMO’s World Climate Research Department. “This will have a knock on effect on ecosystems and fisheries and on our weather,” he said.
The North Atlantic is one of the key drivers of extreme weather. With the warming of the Atlantic, there is an increasing likelihood of more hurricanes and tropical cyclones. North Atlantic sea surface temperature is associated with heavy rain or drought in West Africa, said Baddour.
In June, the Baltic Sea, the United Kingdom, and Ireland experienced extreme marine heatwaves, said WMO, citing Copernicus data.
Antarctic sea ice, too, reached its lowest extent for June — at 17 per cent below average — shattering the prior June record by a considerable margin. Daily Antarctic sea ice extent remained exceptionally low throughout the month.
There were about 2.6 million square kilometres (km2) of Antarctic sea ice loss compared to the long-term average of the satellite era and almost 1.2 million km2 compared to the previous record in 2022, WMO said.
“That is a really dramatic drop in the sea ice extent in Antarctica,” said Baddour.
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