2023 was the hottest on Earth, what does that mean for us?
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has confirmed that 2023 will be the warmest year in the last 100,000 years, highlighting the importance of reducing rising global temperatures. Here’s a look at the causes, consequences, and potential solutions.
Scientists have noted that, beginning June 2023, each month has been the world’s hottest on record when compared to the equivalent month in previous years. According to the EU, the Earth’s temperature increased by 1.48°C on average in 2023 compared to the pre-industrial period of 1850-1900, which saw the widespread industrial-scale burning of fossil fuels, resulting in the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
What can we learn from EU’s C3S on the Earth getting hotter?
According to C3S, the atmospheric carbon dioxide content hit a record high of 419 parts per million in 2023. Despite broad adoption of climate targets by governments and businesses, worldwide CO2 emissions from the combustion of coal, oil, and gas reached new levels at the same time.
Every day in 2023 was more than 1°C hotter than before the industrial age. And, for the first time in history, two November days were 2°C warmer than usual.
However, although climate change has taken prominence in worldwide political discourse, action on the ground is lagging behind.
What caused 2023 to be so warm?
Temperatures in 2023 were influenced by both human-induced climate change and the El Niño weather pattern, which heated up surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, leading to increased worldwide temperatures. Human interventions and poor decision-making by world leaders prioritizing economic profits above climate issues can contribute to rising temperatures, in addition to the El Niño.
According to a prominent climate activist, “While world leaders may articulate grand promises on global platforms, these commitments often appear hollow in practice.”
What have been the consequences?
Experts and scientists believe that rising global temperatures will have serious consequences for citizens. It has also been stated that unprecedented high temperatures will have a big impact on India, causing habitat alterations, dangers to species survival, and negative effects on agriculture, resulting in large losses for farmers.
It is also expected that such temperature increases will result in an increase in climate refugees, rapid glacier melting, and more frequent instances of water shortages, floods, and droughts. The tragic but unifying reality is that as temperatures rise, ecosystems, biodiversity, and human populations face existential threats, rendering the planet unliveable.
The latest research states that there is yet one more chance to change course. However, industrialized nations would need to band together immediately to cut greenhouse gas emissions roughly in half by 2030 and then stop releasing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere entirely by the early 2050s. If these two initiatives were done, the world would have a 50 percent probability of keeping warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
China and the US continue to approve new fossil fuel projects. According to Finland’s Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, China granted permits for 168 coal-fired power stations of various capacities in 2018.
The United States administration has approved Willow, a massive oil drilling project that will take place on beautiful public property in Alaska. To keep warming below that threshold, many of those projects would have to be scrapped, retired early, or cleaned up.
Many scientists have stated that exceeding the 1.5 degree threshold does not mean mankind is doomed. However, every fraction of a degree of further warming is predicted to exacerbate the intensity of threats that people worldwide confront, such as water scarcity, starvation, and lethal heat waves.
Conclusion
To improve the situation, immediate action is required, including the translation of political commitments into grassroots actions, such as stringent measures to control water, air, and noise pollution, as well as effective protection of forests, coastlines, the Himalayas, and other mountains.
Environmentalists recognize that, while actual strategies have been developed by policymakers, the missing piece is the leadership’s willingness to implement them. To offset some of the effects of global warming, wealthy countries must move away from fossil fuels, recognize the influence of animal husbandry on methane emissions, and convert to plant-based diets worldwide.
A global understanding that renewable energy should be prioritized is critical, and obligations must be honoured.
