2023 to become hottest year ever recorded

Accelerating levels of global temperatures could potentially propel 2023 to become the hottest year ever recorded.

Average global temperatures recorded so far in June are nearly 1 degree Celsius above levels previously recorded for the same month, going back to 1979, the Guardian reported.

Scientists say it follows a pattern of strengthening global heating that could see this year named the hottest ever recorded, topping 2016.

The long-term warming conditions caused by the burning of fossil fuels will likely receive a further pulse of heat via El Nino, a naturally reoccurring phenomenon where sections of the Pacific Ocean heat up, typically causing temperatures to spike across the world.

Recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said El Nino conditions are now present and will gradually strengthen early next year.

Human made warming will be worsened by an event that typically adds between 0.1-0.2 degrees to the overall global temperature, said Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania.

“The global surface temperature anomaly is at or near record levels right now, and 2023 will almost certainly be the warmest year on record,” the Guardian quoted Mann as saying.

The sharp increase in heat so far this month is extraordinary and that it will result in a record warm June, the Guardian quoted Mika Rantanen, a meteorologist from Finland as saying.