We have been talking about global warming for decades. But 2023 has made it even clearer why this is so important. As a new record year with warm and humid conditions, 2023 shows the urgency of climate adaptation.
2023 was the warmest year ever measured in Germany Credit: pixabay
Record temperatures in 2023
The German Weather Service (DWD) has published data showing that 2023 was the warmest year in Germany since measurements began in 1881. New temperature records show that climate change is continuing unabated in this country too. This makes it all the more important to step up climate protection efforts and implement measures to adapt to extreme weather conditions. This also applies globally, because according to the EU climate service Copernicus, international measurement data also points to record temperatures for 2023.
While previous years were often mainly dry and hot, 2023 will be characterized by warm and humid conditions with high levels of precipitation. It is therefore also one of the wettest years in history.
Hottest September since 1881
The DWD named 10.6 degrees Celsius as the average temperature for 2023. This figure is 2.4 degrees above the internationally valid reference period from 1961 to 1990. The current, warmer reference period from 1991 to 2020 is 9.3 degrees Celsius, which is still an increase of 1.3 degrees. The mild start to 2023 and the absence of winter already indicated that it could be the warmest year on record.
June 2023 was the fifth warmest on record. This was followed by record high temperatures in the first half of July 2023. In Möhrendorf-Kleinseebach in central Franconia, 38.8 degrees were measured. This was the nationwide record for 2023, and a summer aftershock in September further contributed to the increase in average temperatures. Ultimately, September 2023 was the warmest September since weather records began in 1881, and hot days followed in October too.
The number of sunny days was slightly higher than usual. June and September 2022 in particular were very sunny. Overall, the duration of sunshine exceeded its target by almost 15 percent compared to 1961-1990. Compared to 1991 to 2020, it was still 5 percent. 1,764 hours of sunshine were recorded on average across Germany in the warmest year. In the south and near the coast, over 2,000 hours were recorded in some areas.
By the way: The German Weather Service publishes a current climate status every month.
The sixth wettest year since records began
Precipitation values were also so high in the warmest year of 2023 that records were set. At around 958 liters per square meter, more than 20 percent more precipitation fell in Germany than in the reference period from 1961 to 1990. And even compared to 1991 to 2020, the amount was around 20 percent above the target of 791 liters per square meter. With the exception of February, May, June and September, all months of 2023 recorded a precipitation surplus.
November was the second wettest since 1881 with precipitation totalling over 2,000 liters per square meter in some places, for example in the Alps and the Black Forest. The highest daily precipitation was near Bad Berneck in the Fichtelgebirge, where 120 liters of water per square meter fell during a storm on 22 June 2023. In parts of northern Germany, the year 2023 ended with major floods.
Warm, humid weather and heavy rainfall led to challenges such as flooding in Germany. Credit: pxhere
Consequences of climate change strongly felt in Germany
2023 was the warmest year on record, but not an exception. There were already record temperatures in Germany in 2022 and the average temperature of 10.5 degrees was only slightly below the following year. 2018 is also one of the warmest years since weather records began. The record values for 2023 could already be predicted at the end of November because the fall was so warm.
The year 2023 shows that it is not always a strong summer heat that raises average temperatures. Rather, the weather between April and August was quite average. However, because the fall and winter months were so much warmer than usual, a heat record was set. Among other things, this had a negative impact on the harvest in many federal states. In combination with the heavy rainfall in 2023, this shows that climate change poses a serious threat in Germany with consequences such as high temperatures, flooding and droughts.
Although there was no severe summer heat in 2023, months such as September, November and January were warmer than usual. Credit: unsplash
Up to 2.9 degrees global warming by 2100
The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service also sees 2023 as the warmest year since records began in 1940. According to the institute, global average temperatures last year were 1.46 degrees above the pre-industrial reference period from 1850 to 1900. This negative record emerged early on and was clear by November 2023 at the latest. However, the hot months of June and August as well as peak values in October already showed that 2023 would bring the warmest temperatures on record.
The United Nations also described 2023 as probably the warmest year since industrialization. They explained that global temperatures at the end of October 2023 were already around 1.4 degrees above the pre-industrial average. In 2016, the hottest year globally to date, temperatures were 1.6 degrees above the average for the years 1850 to 1900.
Scientists expect even higher temperatures in 2024. To avert global warming and the catastrophic consequences of climate change, the global community agreed the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. This provides for global warming to be limited to well below 2 degrees, preferably even 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times. However, the United Nations is currently forecasting dangerous warming of 2.5 to 2.9 degrees by 2100.
In our June 2023 issue, we looked at what heat does to the city. The magazine is available here in the store!