All global climate records were broken last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Tuesday, expressing particular concern over warming oceans and melting sea ice.
In its annual report on the state of the global climate, the WMO noted that average temperatures have reached their highest level in the last 174 years of monitoring – 1.45°C above pre-industrial levels.
Ocean temperatures are the highest in 65 years, and more than 90 percent of the seas have experienced a heat wave, according to the WMO.
WMO is issuing a red alert for the world, said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, who took office in January.
What we have experienced in 2023, especially the unprecedented warming of the oceans, the retreat of glaciers and the loss of Antarctic sea ice, is cause for particular concern.
Climate change, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, together with the El Niño climate phenomenon, broke the record in 2023.
Scientists warn that 2024 could be worse as El Niño increases temperatures.
The report warns of a major reduction in Antarctic sea ice. The highest level measured is a million square kilometers less than the previous record, about the size of Egypt.
That trend, combined with ocean warming that causes water to spread, has contributed to a more than doubling of sea levels in the past decade compared to the period 1993-2002, according to the WMO.
The heat is concentrated in the North Atlantic where temperatures are on average 3°C above average by the end of 2023, the report said.
Warmer ocean temperatures are affecting sensitive marine ecosystems and many species of fish have escaped north of the area into colder waters.
