New projections released by the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization on Thursday show that 2023 will be the Earth’s warmest on record and the conclusion of the warmest nine-year period ever.
The report found that the past year has already set several temperature records, pushing it to be the hottest on record despite the remaining time in the year.
Now, current temperature totals for 2023 have left experts almost certain it will pass the previous warmest years, including 2016 and 2020.
Data from the organization indicates that 2023 was approximately 1.4 degrees Celsius hotter than the preindustrial period of 1850 to 1900.
The organization also projected that the nine years from 2015 to 2023 were the warmest such period on Earth ever recorded.
The record warmth is also being pointed to as a reason for sea levels rising from 2013 to 2022 at more than double the pace they did from 1993 to 2002.
WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas shared in a statement that the statistics are more than just numbers, as they could result in even more irreversible outcomes.
“These are more than just statistics. We risk losing the race to save our glaciers and to rein in sea level rise,” Taalas said in a statement. “We cannot return to the climate of the 20th century, but we must act now to limit the risks of an increasingly inhospitable climate in this and the coming centuries.”