2023 likely hottest year on record; further spike expected with El Niño

(United Nations News) 2023 is “almost certain to be the warmest year on record” after October smashed temperature highs, while the mercury will keep rising as the warming El Niño effect continues well into next year.

That’s the message from UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which said on Wednesday that for the calendar year to date, the global mean temperature is the highest ever recorded, 1.43 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and sea ice in the Antarctic remains at record low levels.

WMO expects the warming El Niño climate pattern to last at least until April 2024, contributing to a further spike in temperatures.

Head of WMO, Petteri Taalas, said that as El Niño’s impacts on global temperature typically play out in the year after its development, next year “may be even warmer”.

Read more at: United Nations News

Source: CARICOM TODAY