2023, The Warmest in 100,000 Years

by Brian T. Lynch, MSW

IT IS OFFICIAL!

New York City in June 6, 2023

Last year, 2023, the year when the Canadian wilderness caught fire, was the hottest year on record... by far. In fact, scientists believe it was the hottest year in the last 100,000 years. Global warming is no longer just our future; It is our past and present reality. Quotes from the New York Times:

"On average, in 2023 the planet was 1.48 degrees Celsius warmer than in the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period, when humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale, pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

"This has been a very exceptional year, climate-wise... in a league of its own, even when compared to other very warm years," C3S Director Carlo Buontempo said.

C3S confirmed 2023 as the hottest year in global temperature records going back to 1850. When checked against paleoclimatic data records from sources such as tree rings and air bubbles in glaciers, Buontempo said it was "very likely" the warmest year in the last 100,000 years."

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/2023-was-worlds-hottest-year-record-eu-scientists-confirm-2024-01-09/

The fossil fuel industry did an impressive job forecasting this outcome back in the early 1960s. They did an even more remarkable job of concealing it from the public for years and then creating a false counter-narrative to convince us that global warming is a hoax.

We have to stop listening to them and to all the victims and benefactors of their lies. The electric vehicles we buy this year are purchases delayed over 40 years when it would have made a big difference. Everything we do from here out to lower our carbon footprint impacts only the margins. Let's hope we can still prevent the worst possible outcomes.

ADDENDUM: JANUARY 2024 WAS THE WARMEST JANUARY ON RECORD.