Humanity Has Veered Into ‘Uncharted Territory’

AFP/APP

Paris: Europe’s climate monitoring agency has warned that 2023 is on track to become the warmest year in recorded history, raising pressure on world leaders to curb greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai later this month.

According to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), October 2023 was the hottest October ever recorded globally, 1.7°C above preindustrial estimates. Sea surface temperatures also hit record highs, contributing to more intense storms and cyclones worldwide.

Droughts parched regions of the United States and Mexico, while many other areas experienced unusually wet conditions. C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess said 2023 is already 1.43°C above preindustrial levels, making it nearly certain that it will break all previous temperature records.

Scientists attribute the warming to human-induced climate change and the onset of a warming El Niño, which is expected to worsen conditions through late 2023 and into 2024. Proxy climate data, such as tree rings and ice cores, suggest this year may be the warmest in over 100,000 years.

Rising ocean temperatures—now at a global average of 20.79°C for October, excluding polar regions—have absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat caused by human activity since the industrial era. Warmer oceans intensify storms, accelerate ice melt in Greenland and Antarctica, and raise sea levels, while a hotter atmosphere retains more moisture, driving heavier rainfall.

The impacts have been widespread: record heatwaves, droughts, severe flooding in countries including the US, China, and India, and devastating wildfires in Canada that released more carbon dioxide than the country emitted in all of 2021.

The C3S report cautions that humanity has entered “uncharted territory,” with global warming threatening lives, economies, and ecosystems. COP28 delegates, meeting from November 30 to December 12, face a stark reality: carbon emissions continue to rise, and global efforts remain far short of Paris Agreement targets to limit warming to 1.5–2°C above preindustrial levels.

Scientists emphasize that urgent action is needed this decade to halve emissions and prevent further climate extremes, or the world risks escalating environmental and social disasters.