Brussels – The world is facing a climate crisis like never before, as the European Union’s climate change monitoring service, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), announced that April 2023 was the hottest on record. This marks an 11-month streak of record-breaking temperatures, with each month since June 2022 ranking as the hottest on record.
The global average temperature for the past 12 months was 1.61 degrees Celsius above the average in the pre-industrial period, setting a new record. Scientists are now investigating whether human activity has triggered a tipping point in the climate system, with some extreme events, such as record-breaking sea surface temperatures, raising concerns.
Julien Nicolas, a senior climate scientist at C3S, expressed the urgency of the situation, stating, “I think many scientists have asked the question whether there could be a shift in the climate system.” The main driver of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, combined with the natural El Nino phenomenon, have contributed to the unprecedented rise in temperatures.
Climate scientist Hayley Fowler warned that the world is dangerously close to exceeding the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. While technically the target has not been missed yet, some scientists believe it is no longer achievable and are calling for urgent action to reduce emissions.
As the world grapples with the consequences of climate change, the need for immediate and drastic measures to combat global warming has never been more pressing. The data from C3S serves as a stark reminder of the urgency of the situation and the need for collective action to address the climate crisis before it’s too late.