Earth has experienced the hottest 12-month stretch in recorded history from November 2022 to October 2023, according to a report by US-based climate research group Climate Central out Thursday.
"The past 12 months (November 1, 2022, to October 31, 2023) were Earth's hottest on record. Over this period, the global average temperature was 1.3°C (2.3°F) above pre-industrial temperatures," the report said.
Over that period, average temperatures in 170 out of 175 examined countries surpassed 30-year norms, while only two — Iceland and Lesotho — saw temperatures below the norm, the research group said.
"Over the entire year-long period, 90% percent of people (7.3 billion) experienced at least 10 days of temperatures very strongly affected by climate change, and 73% (5.8 billion) experienced more than a month's worth of these temperatures," the report added.
Andrew Pershing, vice president for science at Climate Central, was cited as saying that "records will continue to fall next year, especially as the growing El Nino begins to take hold, exposing billions to unusual heat."
On Wednesday, the UN's World Meteorological Organization said that the El Nino weather phenomenon may persist through April next year, likely turning both 2023 and 2024 into the hottest years on record, while its previous forecast suggested that global temperatures could reach record high levels over the next five years. This would be facilitated by the anthropogenic factor, that is, greenhouse gases, and a natural factor — the change of phases of ocean currents from La Nina to El Nino.