With September 2023 temperatures breaking records, fears are growing that the world will soon see the mercury rise way above the desired level of 1.5 degrees centigrade.
In parts of the the United States and several countries in the northern hemisphere, September this year has followed the hottest August, ever recorded, shattering past previous summer highs.
Some scientists now fear that the mercury world is headed to a much hotter climate than previously thought.
The United Nations warned of this sweltering scenario this week, regretting that the world is not on track to meet the long-term goals set out in the Paris Agreement for limiting global temperature rise.
Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which issued a report, called for “greater ambition and accelerating action”.
“I urge governments to carefully study the findings of the report and ultimately understand what it means for them and the ambitious action they must take next. It is the same for businesses, communities, and other key stakeholders.”
The report summarizes 17 key findings from technical deliberations in 2022 and 2023 on the implementation status of the Paris Agreement on climate change and its long-term goals, based on the best scientific information.
The Agreement committed all countries to limit temperature rises as close as possible to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
It found that in all areas, ranging from mitigating climate change impacts to addressing loss and damage, “much more needs to be done”.
The report comes ahead of the “global stocktake” at the upcoming UN climate change conference COP28, which will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in November-December.
At the stocktake, delegates will assess if they are collectively making progress towards meeting the climate goals – and where they are not.
Farhan Akhtar, one of the co-facilitators of the dialogue highlighted the “broad participation” of governments, experts, and other key stakeholders.
“Across the discussions, it was clear that the Paris Agreement has inspired widespread action that has significantly reduced forecasts of future warming. This global stocktake is taking place at a crucial moment to inspire further global action in responding to the climate crisis.”
Sultan Al Jaber, president-designate of COP28, emphasized the need to disrupt “business as usual” if the Paris Agreement is to be honored.
For that emissions must be reduced by 43 percent by 2030.
The World Meteorological Organization reported this month that Earth just had its hottest three months on record, according to the European Union-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Global sea surface temperatures are at unprecedented highs for the third consecutive month and Antarctic sea ice extent remains at a record low for the time of year.
It was the hottest August on record – by a large margin – and the second hottest ever month after July 2023, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service ERA 5 dataset.
August as a whole is estimated to have been around 1.5°C warmer than the preindustrial average for 1850-1900, the organization said, citing the C3S monthly climate bulletin.
The year so far (January to August) is the second warmest on record behind 2016, when there was a powerful warming El Niño event, the WMO noted.
August as a whole saw the highest global monthly average sea surface temperatures on record across all months, at 20.98°C. Temperatures exceeded the previous record (March 2016) every single day in August.
