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EcoWatch 

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has issued a “red alert” as all major global climate records — greenhouse gas levels, near-surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, Antarctic sea ice cover, glacier retreat and sea level rise — were broken in 2023.

Floods, swiftly intensifying tropical cyclones, heat waves, drought and wildfires impacted millions of people around the world and caused billions in economic losses, the WMO State of the Global Climate 2023 report said.

The report confirmed that last year was the planet’s warmest on record, with a global average temperature of 1.45 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.

Nearly a third of the world’s ocean was experiencing a marine heat wave on the average day in 2023. By the latter part of the year, heat wave conditions had affected more than 90 percent of the ocean at some point, impacting ecosystems and food systems.

Preliminary data has shown that extreme ice melt in Europe and western North America has led to global reference glaciers suffering the largest ice loss since records began in 1950. The maximum Antarctic sea ice extent was one million square kilometers below the last record year — a deficit equivalent to an area the size of Germany and France combined.

According to the report, climate and weather extremes are aggravating factors in acute global food insecurity, which affected 333 million people last year in 78 countries monitored by the World Food Programme.

Displacement continued to be triggered by weather events in 2023, demonstrating how climate extremes can create novel protection risks and undermine resilience in the world’s most vulnerable populations.