Environment

September was warmest ever, 2023 on track to be hottest on record: C3S

Berlin, Oct 5 (EFE).- September was the warmest month ever recorded and this year is on track to be the hottest since records began, according to the latest bulletin of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) released on Thursday.

The European institution reported that in September the surface air temperature averaged 16.38 degrees Celsius globally, 0.93 above the average for the month during the period between 1991 and 2020.

Moreover, the average is 0.5 degrees above the temperature recorded during what was so far the warmest September on record, in 2020, the Bonn-based agency stressed.

The difference reaches 1.75 degrees compared to the average of the 1850-1900 era, the pre-industrial period used as a reference to measure the effects of climate change.

For the months of January to September, the average global temperature was 0.52 degrees above average and 0.05 degrees above the warmest January-September period recorded so far, in 2016.

Looking at Europe alone, September was 2.51 degrees warmer than the 1991-2000 average and was 1.1 degrees above the previous record holder, 2020.

Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of Copernicus’ Climate Change Service, stressed that these “unprecedented” temperatures for the time of year have smashed records by an “extraordinary” margin.

“This extreme month has pushed 2023 into the dubious honor of first place – on track to be the warmest year and around 1.4C above pre-industrial average temperatures,” she said.

“Two months out from COP28 – the sense of urgency for ambitious climate action has never been more critical,” she said, referring to this year’s climate conference in Dubai.

Other data in the bulletin released Thursday show that sea ice extent in Antarctica remained at a record low for this time of year, while in the Arctic it reached its sixth lowest annual minimum.

Weather conditions in September were also wetter than usual in the Iberian Peninsula and other areas of Western Europe, as well as in Greece, due to the effects of storm Daniel, which also caused the deadly floods in Libya.

Southern Chile and southern Brazil also saw extreme rainfall, while parts of Europe, the southeastern United States, Mexico and Central Asia remained unusually dry and Australia suffered its driest September on record. EFE

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