HOTTEST YEAR ON RECORD PUTS EARTH IN TOUCHING DISTANCE OF CRITICAL WARMING THRESHOLD
Scientists on Tuesday confirmed 2023 as the hottest year on record and warned that the planet is now within touching distance of smashing through the critical warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said 2023, a year in which one researcher described temperature anomalies as "absolutely gobsmackingly bananas," was the warmest calendar year in global temperature data stretching back to 1850. The 12-month period ended with a global average temperature of 14.98 degrees Celsius, almost 0.2 degree Celsius higher than the previous record set in 2016. Extreme heat is fueled by the climate crisis, the chief driver of which is the burning of fossil fuels. Scientists at C3S said 2023 was the first time on record that every day within a year surpassed 1 degree Celsius above the preindustrial reference period of 1850 to 1900, while nearly 50% of days were over 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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