The last 12 months were the hottest in recorded history, analysis finds

A new report by the nonprofit organization Climate Central reveals that the last 12 months (from November 2022 to October 2023) were the hottest ever recorded. As the organization’s vice president for science Dr. Andrew Pershing said in a statement, “this 12-month record is exactly what we expect from a global climate fueled by carbon pollution.”

Nor is this the end of the trend; Pershing explained “records will continue to fall next year, especially as the growing El Niño begins to take hold, exposing billions to unusual heat.” Even though this is expected to most fiercely hit developing countries near the Earth’s equator, climate-fueled extreme heat has also afflicted the United States, Europe, Japan and India.

The scientists specifically found that average global temperatures during that period were roughly 1.32º Celsius (2.4º Fahrenheit) above preindustrial averages. As a result, roughly nine out of ten humans alive experienced at least 10 days over the past 12 months during which high temperatures would have been unlikely if not for climate change.

“This is the hottest temperature our planet has experienced in something like 125,000 years,” Pershing said at a news conference. This is not the only recent study with dire climate change-related news. A study published last month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) revealed that if global temperatures increase by 1 degree Celsius or more above their current levels, billions of people will regularly face heat so extreme their bodies will be unable to naturally cool off.