From global warming to “global boiling”. The observation of the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres and the predictions of Copernicus have been confirmed by the bulletin of the European service: the month of July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded, all seasons combined. From the temperature of the oceans to the size of the ice floe in Antarctica, a look back in five figures on the worrying records of the summer.
16.96°C, the average temperature
Between heat waves and fires, the month of July 2023 greatly improved the mark of the previous record, held by the month of July 2019, which had reached 16.63°C on average. The air temperature was also 0.72°C warmer than the average (1991-2020) for July, Copernicus said in its bulletin.
20.96°C, absolute record at the surface of the oceans
It’s not just in Sardinia or the United States that heat records are broken. The oceans are also witnesses and victims of the worrying evolution of the climate, with abnormally high surface temperatures since April and unprecedented levels in July. An absolute record was thus reached on July 30 with 20.96°C and for the whole month, the surface temperature was 0.51°C above the average (1991-2020).
“We have just witnessed new records for both global air and ocean surface temperatures in July. These records have disastrous consequences for people and the planet, exposed to more frequent and intense extreme events,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the European Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
1.5 degrees, the bar is crossed
“2023 is the third hottest year so far with 0.43°C above the recent average” and “a global average temperature in July 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”, also points out Samantha Burgess. This figure of 1.5°C is highly symbolic because it is the most ambitious limit set by the 2015 Paris agreement to limit global warming. However, the threshold referred to in this international agreement relates to averages over many years and not over a single month. But given current climate policies and the El Niño phenomenon, it is difficult to imagine a reversal of the trend in the coming months.
15%, the surface area deficit of the pack ice compared to the average
Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest extent for a month of July since satellite observations began, at 15% below the average for that month. While summer normally marks a time of reconstitution for the South Pole plunged into darkness, the ice covered only 14.160 million km² on July 25, reportterre note, a historically low level for this time of year. It lacks about the equivalent of 4.5 times the size of mainland France in ice, compared to the average for the years 1981 to 2010.
290 megatonnes of carbon, the toll of fires in Canada
The previous record is hardly even a comparison anymore. “Currently, total emissions from forest fires in Canada are around 290 megatonnes (of carbon), while the previous record recorded in 2014 was 138 megatonnes,” Copernicus said in a bulletin a few days ago. And fire season in Canada is not over yet. As of July 30, the country was ravaged by more than 990 fires, including 613 deemed out of control. To date, more than 12 million hectares have already burned this year, a total well above anything the country has ever known.