Summer 2023 was hottest on record since 1880, confirms NASA

The summer of 2023 has been deemed the hottest period on Earth since at least 1880 amid scorching heat waves experienced in Asia, Europe, North America and elsewhere, confirmed NASA while referring to the time when global record-keeping of temperatures started.

The record-setting heat of 2023 is a result of global warming which has been compounded with a climate pattern called El Nino, as per the space agency.

In a statement, NASA said that August was 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) warmer compared to an average summer, as a record 57 million people living in the southern and southwest US battled a heat wave of the most severe category.

The combined temperatures in June, July and August were 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit (0.23 degrees Celsius) warmer compared to all previous summers, as per the latest report.

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In another conference of NASA held last month on the climate emergency, July was confirmed by the scientists to be the hottest on record, as the previous five hottest Julys were recorded in the past five years.

"Just look around you and you'll see what's happened," said NASA administrator Bill Nelson, during the conference.

"We have record flooding in Vermont. We have record heat in Phoenix and in Miami. We have major parts of the country that have been blanketed by wildfire smoke and, of course, what we are watching in real-time is the disaster that has occurred in Hawaii with wildfires,” he added.

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Biggest impacts of climate change fromFebruary till April

The searing heat of July contributed directly to the deadliest wildfire season on record for both Hawaii and Canada, as the Mediterranean, which included Greece and Italy, saw severe rainfall and flash floods, said scientists.

The record heat has been attributed in part to El Nino which repeatedly takes place every two to seven years when winds over the Pacific Ocean break their routine pattern and move towards the US west coast.

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As a result, the US and Canada witnessed much warmer conditions than usual. "Exceptionally high sea surface temperatures, fueled in part by the return of El Niño, were largely responsible for the summer's record warmth," said Josh Willis, who is an oceanographer and climate scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, in a statement.

As per the predictions of his team, the biggest impacts from this climate pattern will be seen from February till April next year.

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