On September 6, 2023 local time, in Vauxhall, London, England, swimmers took a dip in the sky pool in the Embassy Gardens as the heat wave hit. Visual China Map

According to a report from the Physicist Organization website on the 6th, the European Union’s climate monitoring agency Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) stated that 2023 may be the hottest year in human history. Summer temperatures in the northern hemisphere hit record highs this year, with a global average temperature of 16.77°C in June, July and August, surpassing the previous record of 16.48°C set in 2019.

Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, said that the past three months were the hottest months in 120,000 years, and were actually the hottest months in human history. Heat waves, droughts and wildfires have hit Asia, Africa, Europe and North America over the past three months, with huge impacts on economies, ecosystems and human health.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the climate breakdown has already begun and that the climate is imploding at a speed that people cannot cope with.

The World Meteorological Organization has warned that more frequent and intense heatwaves are producing a form of air pollution that is shortening human lifespan and harming other life forms.

Record high global sea surface temperatures have been one of the culprits behind this year's hot summer, with a marine heatwave hitting the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The oceans have absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat generated by human activity since the dawn of the industrial age, scientists say. This excess heat will continue to build up as greenhouse gases build up in Earth's atmosphere. Warmer oceans are also less able to absorb carbon dioxide, exacerbating a vicious cycle of global warming that damages fragile ecosystems.

Higher temperatures could be on the horizon, C3S said, as the El Niño weather phenomenon warming waters in the South Pacific and beyond is only just beginning. Scientists expect the worst effects of this El Niño event to appear in late 2023 and next year.

C3S used computers to analyze data from billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world. Data such as tree rings and ice cores also allowed scientists to compare current temperatures to those before records began in the mid-19th century. Comparisons were made and the above conclusions were drawn.