Near-record warmth so far this year for the land and oceans

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released their global land and ocean temperature anomaly data for the first quarter of this year (January-March).

To no surprise, the combined global land and ocean surface temperatures for the January to March 2023 period ranked as the 4th warmest on record. The record database goes as far back as 1850.

Note the abnormally high anomalies across eastern North America and much of Europe, while the western U.S. was unusually cold and stormy.

Breaking it down further, this same period was also the 4th warmest on record for the Northern Hemisphere, which has seen a notable uptick in warming, especially since the 1980s and 1990s.

Just focusing on the world's oceans, the January-March 2023 period also ranked as the 4th warmest on record for ocean surface, despite being in the final stages of a weakening La Niña, which typically has a slight cooling influence.

All indications are that the equatorial Pacific is headed toward an El Niño as early as this summer. If these forecasts are correct and there is an extended period of El Niño conditions, then there very well could be a new record high global surface temperature set for 2023, but more likely for the 2024 year, as there is usually a lag in global temperature response after the onset of an El Niño or La Niña.

By the way, the January to March period was the 6th warmest on record for combined land/ocean surface in the Southern Hemisphere and the 4th warmest for just the ocean surface.

All images courtesy NOAA.

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