Warm, warmer, warmest – since the German Weather Service began recording, the average temperature has never been as high as 2023. Not only in Germany, but worldwide, this year will be the negative leader.
Shortly before its end, this year has set a negative record: According to measurements by the German Weather Service (DWD), 2023 is the warmest year in more than 140 years.
According to DWD data, the average temperature this year will be 10.6 degrees Celsius – slightly higher than last year’s value of 10.5 degrees Celsius. Until now, the years 2022 and 2018 were considered the two warmest years since weather records began in 1881.
At the end of November, the DWD had already predicted that 2023 would be heading towards a record high in terms of average temperature. The months of September, October and November – the meteorological autumn – were the warmest since records began, with an average temperature of 11.5 degrees Celsius.
Warmest year – not just in Germany
And not just in Germany, but also globally, 2023 will probably be the warmest year since records began by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The institute began collecting weather data in 1940.
Copernicus published its results three weeks ago. According to this, the global average temperatures this year were 1.46 degrees above the pre-industrial reference period from 1850 to 1900. So far, 2023 has been 0.13 degrees warmer than the first eleven months of the previous record year 2016.
It also became clear early in the year in the Copernicus data that 2023 could set a new negative record. The summer from June to August was the hottest since records began – followed by October, which also brought high temperatures. At the beginning of November, Copernicus even estimated that 2023 could be the hottest year in the past 125,000 years.
UN also records new record
In addition to the DWD and the EU climate change service Copernicus, the United Nations had also described 2023 as probably the warmest year since industrialization in a preliminary report before the start of the climate conference. According to this, the global average temperature was around 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of October. Scientists expect even higher temperatures in 2024. The hottest year so far was 2016, with plus 1.3 degrees above the average for the years 1850 to 1900.
In order to avert the catastrophic consequences of climate change, the international community agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 to limit global warming to well below two degrees, but if possible to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era. According to a current forecast by the UN, the earth is currently moving towards a dangerous warming of 2.5 to 2.9 degrees by the year 2100 in view of the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions.