Earth Had Hottest Three-Month Period on Record; UN Chief Warns of ‘Climate Breakdown’

Earth just had its hottest three months on record, according to the European Union-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). In an alarming report, the EU agency said that global sea surface temperatures are at unprecedented highs for the third consecutive month and Antarctic sea ice extent remains at a record low for the time of year.

“It was the hottest August on record – by a large margin – and the second hottest ever month after July 2023, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service ERA 5 dataset. August as a whole is estimated to have been around 1.5°C warmer than the preindustrial average for 1850-1900, according to C3S,” the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said in a statement released on Wednesday.

In 2023, the period from January to August is the second warmest on record behind 2016, when there was a powerful warming El Niño event, it added. The WMO said August as a whole saw the highest global monthly average sea surface temperatures on record across all months, at 20.98°C. Temperatures exceeded the previous record (March 2016) every single day in August.

Antarctic sea ice extent remained at a record low level for the time of year, with a monthly value 12 percent below average, by far the largest negative anomaly for August since satellite observations began in the late 1970s. Arctic sea ice extent was 10 percent below average, but well above the record minimum of August 2012.

A report in May from WMO and the UK’s Met Office predicted that there is a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years will be the warmest on record and a 66 percent chance of temporarily exceeding 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 average for at least one of the five years. This does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5°C level specified in the Paris Agreement which refers to long-term warming over many years.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Earth has just endured a season of simmering — the hottest summer on record. “Climate breakdown has begun. Scientists have long warned what our fossil fuel addiction will unleash. Surging temperatures demand a surge in action. Leaders must turn up the heat now for climate solutions. We can still avoid the worst of climate chaos – and we don’t have a moment to lose, “ he said.

WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas said the northern hemisphere just had a summer of extremes – with repeated heatwaves fuelling devastating wildfires, harming health, disrupting daily lives and wreaking a lasting toll on the environment.

“In the southern hemisphere Antarctic sea ice extent was literally off the charts, and the global sea surface temperature was once again at a new record. It is worth noting that this is happening BEFORE we see the full warming impact of the El Niño event, which typically plays out in the second year after it develops” he said.