Scientists Astounded by Record-Breaking Heat in October

October 2023 was remarkably hotter compared to any other October in history, as confirmed by scientists.

In fact, it surpassed the pre-industrial temperature averages by 1.7C.

This technically goes against the 2015 Paris Agreement, where countries worldwide pledged to limit global warming to 1.5C in comparison to the 1800s. However, the agreement primarily addresses long-term changes rather than monthly fluctuations.

Nonetheless, October 2023 was 0.4C hotter than the previous highest record for the autumn month set in 2019. The only other time a month experienced such a significant temperature increase was in... September 2023.

This marks the fifth consecutive month breaking records, strongly suggesting that we are likely witnessing the hottest year ever documented.

Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European climate agency responsible for monitoring global surface air and sea temperatures, expressed her astonishment, stating: "The amount that we're smashing records by is shocking."

She further emphasized that the temperature anomaly observed in October is "very extreme."

Explaining the situation, she explained: "September really, really surprised us. So after last month, it's hard to determine whether we're in a new climate state.

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"But now records keep tumbling, and they're surprising me less than they did a month ago."

According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2023 is now "virtually certain" to be the warmest year on record, surpassing the previous titleholder, 2016, which was also influenced by El Nino.

The natural climate cycle known as El Nino, which warms the oceans and affects global weather patterns, generally contributes to a temperature increase of around 0.2C. When combined with the continuous release of carbon emissions into the atmosphere and reduced heat absorption by warming oceans, it's unsurprising that 2023 is setting numerous temperature records.

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When comparing data collected by the Copernicus Climate Change Service since 1940 with long-term statistics from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Samantha Burgess suggests that "we can say this is the warmest year for the last 125,000 years."

Unfortunately, the extreme weather patterns experienced this year have led to devastating impacts on communities worldwide. Canada witnessed its worst ever wildfire season, South America faced severe heatwaves, Libya suffered from fatal floods, Afghanistan encountered freezing temperatures, and southern Africa experienced a cyclone, to mention a few.

Climate scientist Friederike Otto from Imperial College London highlighted the cost implications of continuing to burn fossil fuels, stating: "It's so much more expensive to keep burning these fossil fuels than it would be to stop doing it. That's basically what [the record-breaking October] shows.

"And of course, you don't see that when you just look at the records being broken and not at the people and systems that are suffering, but that - that is what matters."