Concerns about the warmest year on record as global temperatures rise.

Ongoing months, global temperatures surged to record-breaking levels, a worrisome indicator of the climate crisis ahead of a brewing El Niño that may force 2023 to become the hottest year ever written down.

So far in the month of June, earlier all over the world average temperatures are about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than levels earlier recorded for the same month dating back to 1979.

While the month isn’t through and may not establish a new June record, climate experts believe it fits a pattern of increasing global warming that may make this year the hottest ever written down, surpassing 2016.

Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth monitoring arm, confirmed exceptional global warming thus far in June, saying that the first few days of the month exceeded a 1.5C increase compared to pre-industrial times. This is most likely the first time this happened since industrialisation.

Long-term warming caused by the use of fossil fuels will undoubtedly be exacerbated by El Niño, a uniformly recurrent phenomenon in which areas of the Pacific Ocean heat up, causing temperatures to rise worldwide.

NOAA said last week that El Niño conditions had arrived and will “gradually strengthen” through early next year. According to Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, an event that usually adds 0.1C to 0.2C (0.18F to 0.36F) to the overall world temperature would worsen human-caused warming.

According to Mann, the global surface temperature anomaly is already at or near record highs, and 2023 will probably be the hottest year on record. That is expected to be true for nearly every El Niño year in the future until people continue to warm the earth through the use of fossil fuels and carbon pollution.

According to Mika Rantanen, a Finnish meteorologist, the extreme heat this month has been “extraordinary,” it is “pretty certain” that a record high temperature will be set in June.

This year has already seen severe, record heatwaves roil regions ranging from Puerto Rico to Siberia to Spain, and searing heat in Canada has aided in the spread of massive wildfires that have clouded the sky over New York City and Washington with poisonous smoke.

According to a Noaa report on Wednesday, the world saw its third warmest May in a 174-year temperature record the previous month, with North America and South America both seeing their warmest Mays ever written down.

Noaa is more cautious about the chances of an annual heat record in 2023, putting the likeliness at around 12%, but has stated that the year will almost rank in the top ten hottest, with the highest temperature, and is most likely to rank in the top five.

The World Meteorological Organisation warned in May that global temperatures will probably rise over the next five years, powered by El Niño and emissions, with a new record hot year practically certain during this time frame.

There is also a substantial probability that average temperatures will rise over 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, a significant threshold agreed upon by countries, at which point heatwaves, droughts, flooding, and other climate consequences would become much worse.

While people are feeling the heat on land owing to utmost high temperatures, the waters are experiencing an even more extraordinary increase of warmth, with Noaa reporting a second straight month of record-high ocean surface temperatures in May. Excess heat in the seas, which span 70% of the Earth’s surface, affects overall global temperatures, warping fish populations, bleaching coral reefs, and driving coastal sea rise.

The seas have been slowly warming, but they are currently experiencing record temperatures, which is concerning given that El Niño is expected to grow, according to Ellen Bartow-Gillies, a climate scientist at Noaa. This will indeed have ramifications for the remaining world.

According to Bartow-Gillies, Noaa has not has been yet analysed its June temperature data. Still, it seems like the extreme heat will continue during the current month, albeit El Niño will not be a massive issue until later in the year. They’ve had a relatively warm start to the year, which isn’t unusual, but they may become much warmer thanks to El Niño, she added.

Regardless of whether 2023 is the warmest year ever written down, experts warn that the increasing effects of the climate catastrophe are already evident and will not abate until greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced.

According to Natalie Mahowald, an atmospheric scientist at Cornell University, the changes they are experiencing are just the beginning of the negative repercussions they may expect. This year, and the severe events that have happened, should serve as a cautionary note.

Proofread & Published By Naveenika Chauhan