2023 was world's hottest year in last 100 years

Last year was the world;s hottest on record by a substantial margin and likely the world's warmest in the last 100,000 years, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has said.

Scientists had widely expected the milestone, after climate records were repeatedly broken. Since June, every month has been the world's hottest on record compared with the corresponding month in previous years.

"This has been a very exceptional year, climate-wise... in a league of its own, even when compared to other very warm years," C3S Director Carlo Buontempo said.

C3S confirmed 2023 as the hottest year in global temperature records going back to 1850. When checked against paleoclimatic data records from sources such as tree rings and air bubbles in glaciers, Buontempo said it was "very likely" the warmest year in the last 100,000 years.

On average, in 2023 the planet was 1.48 degrees Celsius warmer than in the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period, when humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale, pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Countries agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to prevent global warming surpassing 1.5C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), to avoid its most severe consequences.

The world has not breached that target - which refers to an average global temperature of 1.5C over decades - but C3S said that temperatures had exceeded the level on nearly half of the days of 2023 set "a dire precedent".

In the last three months of last year, there was a comparison between the heat waves in Lagos and Abuja as residents in the two cities lament extreme temperatures. However, the truth is that everywhere in Nigeria was hot and this is driving people uncomfortable. On Twitter, a user shared a clip of his bottled petroleum jelly that melted in Kaduna’s 41°C heat. Some people have even compared the experience to hell while others are “calling on God for help.”

With the rise in concrete-walled buildings and tarred roads and vehicles that radiate heat, the risk of heat waves only increased. And when we burn fuels from our cars, home generators and industries, the resulting carbon dioxide gas which fires up into the sky and forms a blanket traps heat in the atmosphere. It is this trapped heat that disrupts the atmospheric temperature and come back at us as heat waves.

Some other climate experts have posited that the record-breaking year underlined the need to act "extremely urgently" to reduce emissions.

The speed of change in the political world and the will to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions is not matching the speed of change of extreme weather and warming.

RECORD EMISSIONS

Despite the proliferation of governments' and companies' climate targets, CO2 emissions remain stubbornly high. The world's CO2 emissions from burning coal, oil and gas hit high record levels in 2023.

Last year, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere rose to the highest level recorded, of 419 parts per million, C3S said.

It was also the first year in which every day was more than 1C hotter than pre-industrial times. For the first time, two days - both in November - were 2C warmer than in the pre-industrial period.

What scientists do not know yet is whether 2023's extreme heat is a sign that global warming is accelerating.

Whether there's been a phase shift or a tipping point, or it's an anomalously warm year, we need more time and more scientific studies to understand.

Adverse effects on Businesses

Beyond the human impact, heat can have significant impacts on materials, output, and infrastructure upon which businesses rely. High temperatures put increased stress on machinery, causing breakdown or requiring more frequent maintenance, and degrade materials or make them useless in the heat.

Phenomena like fires and floods may be the most obvious example of physical risk, but heat falls into the same bucket. Indeed, a Moody’s report identified heat stress as one of two physical risks that affect almost every sector. In agriculture, heat can kill crops. That harms retailers, too, who are dependent on crops in their supply chain. For the travel industry, extreme heat can shift consumer demand—making some destinations desirable and others anathema. Across many sectors, heat stress makes it more difficult and at times impossible for employees to work outside.

And, if the direct impact on individual businesses weren’t enough, there’s also a macro effect to consider: a significant body of research now shows that extreme heat is a drag on the global economy. A study published in the journal Science Advances found that human-caused extreme heat cost the global economy as much as $29 trillion between 1992 and 2013. A different study from the Climate Impact Lab found that higher temperatures could reduce the average income globally by nearly a quarter by 2100 compared to a no-climate-change scenario.

What can we do now that we’re here?

Those with adequate resources are building programs to address heat risk. Walmart, for example, is assessing its supply chain to ensure it can bounce back from extreme weather—including heat stress—as part of a comprehensive climate programme.

Beyond the week-to-week, month-to-month impact of heat, it’s also important to consider the role businesses can play in avoiding the worst possible heat. By cutting their own carbon emissions—and pushing a bigger societal shift toward a low-carbon economy—companies not only protect their own growth prospects but also the wellbeing of all of society.

Elderly people, children, and those living alone are more exposed to the risks of illnesses due to extreme heat. So it is important to always keep a tab on them and ensure they are safe and well.

Staying away from alcoholic beverages, narcotics and stressful outdoor physical activities may be a smart thing to do during this period. Because any of these activities could increase dehydration and the risk of suffering heat-related illnesses.

Stay in a well-ventilated, air-conditioned space always. Don’t lock yourself up in a room with heat. When you are indoor, an air-conditioner is preferred to a fan – a fan blows warm air that is warmer than your body temperature and this could ultimately increase the risk of heat stress..