2023 declared hottest year on record

The global average temperature for the last 12 months is the highest ever documented, at 1.63°C above pre-industrial levels, according to the EU’ s Copernicus Climate Change Service


Global average temperature above IPCC pre-industrial levels* (°C)


2015: Paris Agreement aims to limit global temperature increase to below two degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial levels, and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C

Apr 2024: Study by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research estimates climate change could cut 17% off global GDP by 2050, at cost of US$38 trillion per year

*Pre-industrial levels: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) uses 1850 to 1900 as its pre-industrial average

2.0		   	       1.78      1.77 
1.5	   1.50 1.75 1.70 1.75      1.52      1.68 1.58 1.52°C
1.0 1.20°C
0.5
0.0	
    Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
             

Source: Copernicus, Potsdam Institute, Reuters 
Picture: Getty Images 
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