Climate change: 2023 officially the world's hottest year on record - but experts warn 2024 may be even hotter

Last year saw climate records 'tumble like dominoes' as scientists confirm 2023 was the hottest year on record - so far.

The European Union’s climate change service Copernicus say that in 2023 global temperatures averaged 14.98C - which beats the previous record set in 2016 by just 0.17C. However, Met Office scientists warn that this record could be short-lived, with their forecasts suggesting 2024 could be even hotter.

It may finally reach a dangerous tipping point if it rises over the 1.5C above pre-industrial levels target set in the Paris Agreement, the point where climate scientists warn humans will have increasingly little control over how much temperatures continues to rise, and it will become harder for us to mitigate some of the most serious impacts of climate change. Last year came close to breaching this symbolic boundary - hitting 1.48C above - while smashing a series of climate records in the process.

July 2023 was likely the hottest month in the last 120,000 years - almost as long as modern humans have existed - while Antarctic sea ice has been at an historic low, having a devastating impact on wildlife. Each month from June through to December average temperature records for that individual month, while many parts of the world suffered devastating, deadly heatwaves.

Experts say there were two main reasons for the scorching year: El Nino, a cyclical natural phenomenon in the tropical eastern Pacific which brings heat to the surface; and rising greenhouse gas emissions, which combined to create an extra warming effect on the atmosphere and oceans. Scientists have been urging the global community to radically cut these emissions to prevent further warming, with each fraction of a degree further destabilising the Earth’s climate.

Copernicus Climate Change Service deputy director Samantha Burgess told PA: “2023 was an exceptional year with climate records tumbling like dominoes. Not only is 2023 the warmest year on record, it is also the first year with all days over 1C warmer than the pre-industrial period. Temperatures during 2023 likely exceed those of any period in at least the last 100,000 years.”

Met Office climate scientist Dr Nick Dunstone added that the "extraordinary global heat" throughout 2023 made it possible to signal it would be the hottest year on record well before it had even finished. “We expect the strong El Nino in the Pacific to impact the global temperature through 2024. For this reason we are forecasting 2024 to be another record breaking year, with the possibility of temporarily exceeding 1.5C for the first time.”

Climate activists have echoed the cry from experts to radically cut greenhouse gas emissions. Greenpeace UK campaigner Aakash Naik said: “2023 has proven a record breaking year for all the wrong reasons. While soaring temperatures wreaked havoc on millions of lives, the fossil fuel ‘supermajors’ handed almost £100 [billion] to shareholders - their largest pay-outs in history.

“To stop the climate crisis accelerating, oil and gas must stay in the ground, but the UK government is poised to hand the industry annual licences to keep drilling for years to come in a false pursuit of energy security. Real leaders would stop fossil fuel companies cashing in on climate catastrophe and force them to start paying for the damage they are causing around the world.”