Evidence of global warming is accelerating. This September was the warmest September on record globally since reliable records began (1850), and 2023 is also on track to be the warmest on record. This is indicated by the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Commission in the latest monthly newsletter.
The average surface air temperature was 16.38°C in September, which is 0.5°C above the warmest September temperature recorded so far, that of 2020.
What surprises scientists most about the new records is the huge margin of difference compared to previous records.
The reasons are known. To the growing emission of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels are added the effects of the additional warming caused by El Niño, a process initiated in the waters of the equatorial Pacific with an impact on a large part of the planet.
All this happens after the two previous months, July and August 2023, had the highest average monthly temperatures for the respective months (16.95°C and 16.82°C). “Since June, the world has experienced unprecedented heat on land and sea. The temperature anomalies are huge, much bigger than what we have seen in the past”, said the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Petteri Taalas.
Meanwhile, the global temperature from January to September was 0.05°C higher than the warmest year (at this time) on record so far, 2016. At this rate, 2023 will be the hottest ever recorded on the planet. The temperature has exceeded that of the pre-industrial era (1850-1900) by 1.40°C. This situation led UN Secretary General António Guterres to say in July: “Climate change is here. It’s terrifying. And it’s just the beginning. The era of global warming is over. The era of global boiling has arrived”, he said then. “With two months to go until COP28, the urgency for ambitious climate action has never been more critical,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service
In Europe, September 2023 was also the warmest September on record, 2.51°C warmer than the 1991-2020 average, and 1.1°C warmer than the previous warmest September 2020.
And in Spain, September was, as a whole, very warm, with an average peninsular temperature of 20.2°C; that is, 1.1°C above average.
In Catalonia, the Atlas 1991-2020 indicates that the average annual temperature has risen by 1ºC compared to the previous period of international measurement, from 1961 to 1990. “This value is very outstanding”, remarks Marc Prohom, head of the area of climatology of the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC).
On a global scale, the increase in temperatures since the pre-industrial period has been 1.2ºC, and in Catalonia it is estimated to be slightly higher: 1.4ºC. “In just 30 years, we have made a jump of 1ºC, which is almost two-thirds of the recorded warming, proof of the acceleration that is taking place”, synthesizes Prohom.
