2023 broke every climate indicator, warns stark report

2023 was the warmest year on record and broke every single "climate indicator," according to a new report warning that Earth is already close to breaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius lower limit of the Paris Agreement.

The World Meteorological Organization State of the Global Climate report, issued on Tuesday (March 19), serves as a stark reminder of the state of the planet, with its authors making a desperate plea for immediate concerted international action.

According to the report, last year's average temperature was 1.45 degrees above the pre-industrial average – with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.12 degrees. 

In addition, concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – reached record high observed levels.

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To add to the alarm, global mean sea level reached a record high, with the rate of rise over 2014–2023 more than doubling since the first decade of recorded satellite data (1993–2002).

The study showed that Antarctic sea-ice extent reached an absolute record low in February, around 1 million square kilometers below the previous record low maximum. 

There was also alarm regarding the glaciers of Switzerland which lost a staggering 10 percent of its remaining volume in just two years.

In her foreword to the report, WMO Secretary-General Professor Celeste Saulo wrote: "The climate crisis is the defining challenge that humanity faces… Never have we been so close – albeit on a temporary basis – to the 1.5 degrees lower limit of the Paris Agreement on climate change."

She added: "(The) WMO is committed to stepping up collaboration with the international community to confront the enormity of this challenge."

Saulo trumpeted the introduction of a new Global Greenhouse Gas Watch which "seeks to provide scientifically-based information for climate change mitigation." 

She wrote: "WMO and its members are expanding life-saving early warning services to achieve the ground-breaking Early Warnings For All initiative."

Saulo said climate information must be made "more accessible and actionable to serve society."

She said it was imperative for the public to play its part in putting pressure on policymakers, writing "I hope this report will raise awareness of the vital need to scale up the urgency and ambition of climate action."

The report was compiled by contributors from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and Regional Climate Centres and United Nations agencies.

Copernicus Climate Change Service's (C3S) latest monthly climate bulletin reported that last month was the warmest February on record. The study showed it to be the ninth month in a row to record the highest average temperature on record for the respective month of the year.

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