Earth Had The Hottest Summer On Record In 2023, Says NASA

According to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Earth has just experienced its hottest June-August period on record in 2023. This summer marked the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere and the warmest winter in the Southern Hemisphere

. During June, July, and August, temperatures were 0.23 degrees Celsius higher than any previous summer in NASA’s records and 1.2 degrees Celsius above the average summer temperatures from 1951 to 1980. August temperatures were also 1.2 degrees Celsius above the norm. Notably, meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere spans from June to August.

This record-breaking announcement coincides with a global heat wave that intensified wildfires in Canada and Hawaii and brought scorching temperatures to regions like South America, Japan, Europe, and the United States, as reported by NASA.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized the real-world consequences of these record-setting temperatures, citing extreme weather events such as soaring temperatures in Arizona, wildfires in Canada, and severe flooding in Europe and Asia.

The driving force behind this trend of global warming and climate change is greenhouse gas emissions, as widely acknowledged. NOAA’s chief scientist, Sarah Kapnick, pointed out that not only was August the warmest on record but also the 45th consecutive August and the 534th consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average. Global marine heat waves and a growing El Niño are contributing to this year’s warming, but as long as emissions continue to propel background warming, further temperature records are expected to be broken in the coming years.

El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon characterized by higher-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, can have far-reaching effects. It often brings colder and wetter conditions to the southwestern United States while causing drought in countries like Australia and Indonesia in the western Pacific, as noted by NASA.

Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist with NASA, warned that climate change is an undeniable reality and that predicted consequences are now becoming a reality. He stressed that the situation will worsen if carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere persist.