With rapid climate change, extreme weather events increasingly impact global populations and environments. Key developments in climate science for 2023 include a faster rise in global temperatures, increasing at 0.27 degrees Celsius per decade compared to 0.2 degrees in the 1990s and 2000s.
Rising sea levels now average about 4.5 millimeters per year, up from 1.85 mm since 1900, and the world could exceed the 1.5 C warming threshold by 2030, triggering catastrophic impacts. Warm-water corals are nearing irreversible die-off, and the Amazon rainforest faces potential transformation due to rapid deforestation.
Thawing ice from Greenland may lead to an earlier collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, affecting European winters. In Antarctica, sea ice loss contributes to further warming and endangers phytoplankton essential for CO2 absorption.
Wildfires remain a persistent threat, burning 3.7 million square kilometers from March 2024 to February 2025, generating higher CO2 emissions from carbon-rich forests. Heat-related health risks are escalating, with U.N. agencies estimating significant productivity drops and over $1 trillion in global losses attributed to heat exposure.
In Europe, studies suggest over 24,400 heat-related deaths attributed to climate factors this summer, with previous summers reporting around 62,700 deaths. Meanwhile, the U.S. faces funding cuts under a climate-skeptical administration, threatening climate data collection, while other countries increase science budgets, with the EU providing public access to real-time weather data.
With information from Reuters