NOAA: 2023 was warmest year on record by far

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed Friday that 2023 was the hottest single year ever recorded, confirming a determination earlier this week from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

In its annual global climate report, NOAA found that average land and ocean temperatures reached 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average last year. This marked the highest annual average in 173 years of record-keeping. It was also the highest-ever gap between the hottest year and second-hottest — in this case, 2016, which was 0.27 degrees cooler.

The past year was also 2.43 degrees hotter than the average for the pre-industrial period between 1850 and 1900. All of the 10 warmest years since 1850 have been in the past 10 years, according to NOAA. The determination echoes those of not only the Copernicus Service but also NASA and the U.K.’s Met Office, all of which confirmed 2023 is the hottest year on record. 

NOAA also determined that this year has a 1-3 chance of being warmer than 2023 and a 99 percent chance of being among the five warmest years on record. 

Meanwhile, Antarctic sea ice also hit a record low for the second year in a row, reaching 690,000 square miles in February, while upper ocean heat content — the heat stored in the ocean’s upper 2,000 meters — was the hottest ever recorded as well. The five highest upper-ocean heat levels have all occurred in the last five years, according to NOAA.

“After seeing the 2023 climate analysis, I have to pause and say that the findings are astounding,” NOAA Chief Scientist Sarah Kapnick said in a statement. “Not only was 2023 the warmest year in NOAA’s 174-year climate record — it was the warmest by far. A warming planet means we need to be prepared for the impacts of climate change that are happening here and now, like extreme weather events that become both more frequent and severe.”

The last year has long been expected to set a new record, particularly after the summer was confirmed to be the warmest ever recorded. The Copernicus Service confirmed the record Tuesday and also said it was “likely” that the 12-month period ending in either January or February will surpass the 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming that is the heat threshold established in the Paris Agreement.