GINEBRA.– This year could break the heat record recorded in 2023, the UN warned this Friday, which urged reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stated that the warming trend recorded between June and December 2023 will continue this year with the effects of the El Niño meteorological phenomenon.
For its part, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projected that there is a one in three chance that 2024 will be warmer than 2023, and a 99% chance that this year will be among the five warmest. of the records.
Argentina’s Celeste Saulo, who has just taken over as WMO secretary, warned that El Niño is likely to continue causing an increase in temperatures in 2024.
This weather pattern is usually associated with an increase in temperatures around the world and its effect is usually felt in the year after its emergence.
“Given that El Niño typically has its greatest impact on global temperatures after peaking, 2024 could be even hotter,” Saulo said.
The WMO annual report, which compiles several recognized databases, confirmed that 2023 was “by far” the warmest year on record.
The average annual temperature in 2023 was 1.45 ºC above the levels of the pre-industrial era (1850-1900).
This level is a little below the estimates of the European Copernicus Climate Observatory, which announced on Tuesday in its balance sheet that last year an increase of 1.48 °C was recorded compared to the pre-industrial era.
The Paris climate agreements set the goal of limiting the rise in temperatures to 1.5 °C compared to that era.
According to NOAA, the global surface temperature in 2023 was 1.18ºC higher than the 20th century average. It was also warmer than the next warmest year, 2016, by a record margin of 0.15°C.
The mercury rose especially in the Arctic, northern North America, central Asia, the North Atlantic and the eastern tropical Pacific, according to the NOAA report.
Saulo stated that climate change is “the greatest challenge facing humanity.”
“We must drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the transition towards renewable energy sources,” he stressed.
