The US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) asserted on Monday that there is a nearly 50% probability that 2023 will be the warmest year ever recorded, and the next coming year could be even hotter.
"It is virtually certain—over 99% chance—that 2023 will rank among the five warmest years on record, with a nearly 50% probability that 2023 will rank warmest on record," NOAA Chief Scientist Sarah Kapnick said.
Meanwhile, the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Gavin Schmidt, said next year could be even hotter because of the Pacific warming phenomenon known as El Niño.
"The biggest impact of El Niño will actually occur in 2024, so we're anticipating that not only is 2023 going to be exceptionally warm and possibly a record warm year, but we anticipate that 2024 will be warmer still," Schmidt said.
The European Union's Copernicus climate observatory stated last week that July was the warmest month ever recorded on Earth, and NOAA data released on Monday confirmed the EU statistical analysis.
"The average global surface temperature in July was 2.02 degrees Fahrenheit (1.12 degrees Celsius) above average, ranking it as the warmest July in NOAA's 174-year record," NOAA said.
NOAA also said that global ocean surface temperatures hit a record high in July for the fourth consecutive month as El Niño conditions that emerged in June continued.
"Climate change is having an impact on people and ecosystems all over the world," said Kate Calvin, NASA's top scientist and senior climate advisor.
"Along with changes in temperature, we're experiencing other changes in climate like sea level rise, declines in Arctic sea ice, wildfires, heavy precipitation events, and more," Calvin noted.
According to Bill Nelson, the administrator of the US space agency, it is "self-evident that the Earth is heating up."
"Mother Nature is sending us a message, and that message is we better act now, before it's too late to save our climate, in other words, to save our planet," Nelson highlighted.
