If you were not concerned about global warming before it's time you should. 2023 has seen a massive acceleration in the rate of warming. We had gained 1.1°C since pre-industrial times until 2022. We gained another one degree only in 2023!! Yes you have read that correctly. As much warming last year as during the 100 years before that. And it keeps increasing. Have a look at the graph of the average global sea surface temperature.
Concretely what does it mean? If you haven't read my explanation about how degrees of global warming translate into local temperatures, please do it now. Most people don't realise that oceans warm up much more slowly than land, and 70% of Earth's surface is made up of oceans. So a global average 2° of warming may only be 0.5° above the oceans, but 5°, 10° or even 20° on land, depending on the latitude. The higher the latitude, the stronger the warming on land. But these remain yearly averages. It does not preclude higher peaks of warming during a few weeks or days.
This February North America experienced an unprecedented heatwave with temperature anomalies of over 30°C in excess seasonal averages for a few days, while the monthly averages were well over +10°C.
132 monthly records where shattered in the US this February, very often way above previous records.
In the meantime, Eastern Europe experienced warmer temperatures than Southern Spain in the middle of winter, What's the temperature is reaching a warm 20°C in places like Warsaw, where it normally freezes hard in winter.
Anomalies of +10°C to +20°C were also recorded all over Asia this February, with, for example, 30°C in Turkmenistan and 25°C at 1000m of altitude in Tajikistan.
Even in Africa, where global warming should have less impact, the heat was much stronger than usual, with peaks over 46°C with high humidity, causing nearly unliveable conditions.
Of course global warming has stopped or stabilised yet. Far from it. If 2024 follows in the footsteps of 2023, as appears to be the case after 2 these first two months, we will reach +2.5°C this summer and maybe +3°C by the end of the year.
Concretely what does it mean? If you haven't read my explanation about how degrees of global warming translate into local temperatures, please do it now. Most people don't realise that oceans warm up much more slowly than land, and 70% of Earth's surface is made up of oceans. So a global average 2° of warming may only be 0.5° above the oceans, but 5°, 10° or even 20° on land, depending on the latitude. The higher the latitude, the stronger the warming on land. But these remain yearly averages. It does not preclude higher peaks of warming during a few weeks or days.
This February North America experienced an unprecedented heatwave with temperature anomalies of over 30°C in excess seasonal averages for a few days, while the monthly averages were well over +10°C.
132 monthly records where shattered in the US this February, very often way above previous records.
In the meantime, Eastern Europe experienced warmer temperatures than Southern Spain in the middle of winter, What's the temperature is reaching a warm 20°C in places like Warsaw, where it normally freezes hard in winter.
Anomalies of +10°C to +20°C were also recorded all over Asia this February, with, for example, 30°C in Turkmenistan and 25°C at 1000m of altitude in Tajikistan.
Even in Africa, where global warming should have less impact, the heat was much stronger than usual, with peaks over 46°C with high humidity, causing nearly unliveable conditions.
Of course global warming has stopped or stabilised yet. Far from it. If 2024 follows in the footsteps of 2023, as appears to be the case after 2 these first two months, we will reach +2.5°C this summer and maybe +3°C by the end of the year.
Last edited:
