Posted on 18 January 2024
Last week, 2023 was confirmed as the hottest year on record, with the extent of Antarctic Sea ice at its lowest, and the upper ocean heat content at its highest.
This has been partially attributed to the transition to the warming El Niño phase midway through 2023, and new WMO Secretary-General Prof. Celeste Saulo says that “given that El Niño usually has the biggest impact on global temperatures after it peaks, 2024 could be even hotter.” The El Nino is expected to continue to heat up Pacific Ocean temperatures this year, and cause more extreme weather events globally including flooding, drought, wildfires and heatwaves, exasperating hunger, displacement and health risks.
However the role of long-term climate change in this temperature rise should not be overlooked. "Longer-term climate change is escalating, and this is unequivocal because of human activities”, says Paulo. “The climate crisis is worsening the inequality crisis. It affects all aspects of sustainable development and undermines efforts to tackle poverty, hunger, ill-health, displacement, and environmental degradation.”