Warmest year and December on record globally
As expected, 2023 ended up as the warmest year on record globally (land/ocean surface combined) by a wide margin due to the influence of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions along with an added boost from El Niño.
December 2023 also ranked as the warmest December on record globally, averaging a whopping 1.37 degrees Celsius above the 1951-1980 mean and shattering the previous record of +1.16 degrees Celsius set back in 2015, according to NASA.
The graphic shows the plot of average annual surface temperature anomalies for the world going back to 1880. Image courtesy NASA.
According to NASA GISS, last year averaged 1.17 degrees Celsius above the 1951-1980 mean. The old record was +1.01 set in the years 2016 and 2020. Last year was also the warmest year on record globally in the NOAA database, which goes as far back as 1850.
Speaking of El Niño, NASA has put together an excellent graphic below showing the global temperature anomalies by month and shaded them by ENSO status. El Niño clearing has a warming influence on global temperatures, while La Niña has a slight cooling influence. However, if you look closely the most recent La Niña years are now warmer than earlier El Niño years as warming from the increase of greenhouse gases continues to dominate.
According to NOAA, the top 10 warmest years on record globally have all occurred since 2014, and the top five warmest have all occurred since 2016. Image courtesy NOAA.
I predict that the new global temperature record for 2023 will be broken in 2024 due to the steady increase in global greenhouse gas emissions and being on the downturn of El Niño. The global surface greatest warming influence from El Niño occurs on the back side of El Niño.
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