According to an Analysis by NASA, earth’s surface temperature in the 2023 Climate was the warmest year on record. Global temperatures last year were around 2.1 degrees above average.
NASA is comparing this data to a period between 1951-1980, which was recorded by scientists from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
“NASA and NOAA’s global temperature report confirms what billions of people around the world experienced last year; we are facing a climate crisis. From extreme heat, to wildfires, to rising sea levels, we can see our Earth is changing. There’s still more work to be done, but President Biden and communities across America are taking more action than ever to reduce climate risks and help communities.”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
In 2023, millions of people around the world experienced extreme heat. Temperatures between the months of June and December also set a global record for the respective month. NASA also said that July was the hottest month ever recorded.
Scientists have evidence that the planet’s long term warming is driven by humans, however they still examine other things. This includes aerosols, pollution, volcanic eruptions, as well as El Nino.
NASA also says the largest source of variability is El Nino, which is a Southern Oscillation ocean climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean. This has two phases, called El Nino and La Nina, when sea surface temperatures along the equator switch temperatures.
To learn about the 2023 Climate, NASA collected data from meteorological stations, as well as ship and buoy instruments. Thankfully, the Biden-Harris Administration as well as NASA recently launched the Greenhouse Gas Center, to make climate data available to almost everyone.