2023 likely warmest year on record

MANILA, Philippines — The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that 2023 is “almost certain to be the warmest year on record” after October smashed temperature highs.

The ongoing El Niño event is expected to last at least until April 2024, influencing weather patterns and contributing to a further spike in land and ocean temperatures, the UN weather agency noted.

October 2023 was by far the warmest October on record at 0.85°C above the 1991-2020 average and 0.40°C above the previous warmest October.

El Niño conditions continued to develop in the equatorial Pacific, although anomalies remain lower than those reached at this time of year during the developments in 1997 and 2015.

As El Niño’s impacts on global temperature typically play out in the year after its development, next year “may be even warmer,” according to WMO chief Petteri Taalas.

He warned that extreme weather events will be worse in some regions.

The previous warmest year on record was 2016 due to a “double whammy” of an exceptionally strong El Niño and climate change.