Last 8 years hottest on record as scientists warn of 'unprecedented' climate

12 January 2023 , 18:01

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The last eight years have been the warmest on record (Image: Getty Images)

The past eight years were the warmest on record globally, according to six leading international temperature datasets.

UN scientists have said that "stark" data from 2022 shows that last year was another "near-record", coming in as the sixth warmest in records dating back to 1850.

They've warned that despite the extreme temperatures we saw in 2022, the year could be "one of the coolest years of the rest of our lives" as global warming is fueled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat.

The average global temperature last year was about 1.15C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels, marking the eighth consecutive year that annual global temperatures have reached at least 1C above pre-industrial levels.

2022 was the sixth warmest year in records dating back to 1850 (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

The likelihood of temporarily breaching the 1.5C limit of the Paris Agreement — a legally binding international treaty on climate change — is increasing with time, warns the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

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Last year large areas of Pakistan flooded, with major economic losses and human casualties. Record-breaking heat waves were also observed in China, Europe, North and South America.

Colour chart showing the global temperature change from 1950-2021

The University of Reading has released the latest version of the now-famous "climate stripes" graphic which included 2022 data using Met Office figures, which inventor Professor Ed Hawkins said showed "stark" global warming.

Across the datasets, 2022 was assessed as being the fifth or sixth warmest year on record, despite the presence of a La Nina event — a natural climate pattern that temporarily lowers temperatures.

But the WMO warned that the cooling impact was short-lived and would not reverse the long-term warming trend caused by greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere by human activity such as burning fossil fuels.

Scientists say temperatures will continue to rise (PA)

Dr Colin Morice, from the Met Office, said: "2022 was another near-record year for global average temperatures, despite the slight cooling influence of La Nina: a pattern of climate variability in the tropical Pacific that typically acts to suppress global temperatures.

"Climate variability has always imparted an influence on global temperature, making some years slightly warmer or cooler than others.

"The influence of natural variability throughout the 173-year-long observed temperature record is small compared to the ongoing warming due to human-induced climate change."

Scientists have warned we must take action (PA)

Professor Tim Osborn, of the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, said: "Our global temperature data show that 2022 was consistent with the long-term warming of 0.2C per decade that we have observed over the last 50 years.

"Unless we can take action that slows this rate of warming, the world's climate will reach 1.5C above pre-industrial levels within the next 15 years."

The climate stripes, created by Prof Hawkins, professor of climate science at the University of Reading, represent each year since 1850 with a consecutive vertical stripe whose colour ranges from deep blue for the coldest years to dark red for the warmest years.

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The stripes are a visual representation of world warming, with older years to the left of the graphic dominated by blue stripes, which changes to more recent years with darkening shades of red.

Excess heat is building up at unprecedented rates (PA)

He said: "The data from 2022 is stark, however you look at it.

"Whether you view the figures in their raw form, or look at the data as another red line added to the climate stripes, the message is clear.

"Excess heat is building up across the planet at a rate unprecedented in the history of humanity."

He said 2022's stripe was the second-darkest red because of La Nina and that, as that climate pattern changed, the darkest red stripes would return.

He added: "If you think how hot 2022 was, and then realise that those 12 months will likely be one of the coolest years of the rest of our lives, I think we will regret not having acted sooner on these warnings."

Reanna Smith