In 2023, the planet was almost 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than before industrialization. This could be an outlier – or an indication that the crisis is worsening.
To understand how crazy the climate year 2023 has been, you have to put it into perspective. That year, the global average was hotter than ever before. Significantly hotter than the previous record year of 2016 and hotter than it has probably been in more than 100,000 years. The average temperature in 2023 was almost 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to the annual report of the EU climate service Copernicus. This almost reached the lowest limit of the Paris Climate Agreement.