2023 will almost certainly be the warmest year on record

Global temperatures have accelerated to record-setting levels this month, an ominous sign in the climate crisis ahead of a gathering El Niño that could potentially propel 2023 to become the hottest year ever recorded. Preliminary global average temperatures taken so far in June are nearly 1C above levels previously recorded for the same month, going back to 1979. 

While the month is not yet complete and may not set a new June record, climate scientists say it follows a pattern of strengthening global heating that could see this year named the hottest ever recorded, topping 2016. The long-term warming conditions caused by the burning of fossil fuels will likely receive a further pulse of heat via El Niño, a naturally reoccurring phenomenon where sections of the Pacific Ocean heat up, typically causing temperatures to spike across the world.

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