A new report from the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reflects on the climate change records made in 2023. The WMO warns that although significant progress has been made to limit a rise in global temperatures, we’re on track to continue a ten-year record-breaking streak. 

Greenhouse gas emissions, ocean heat, and climate-related disasters are just a few of the subjects the report highlights. 

“Earth’s issuing a distress call,” says United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. “The latest State of the Global Climate report shows a planet on the brink. Fossil fuel pollution is sending climate chaos off the charts.” 

According to the WMO, the atmospheric presence of carbon dioxide is up by 50% compared to pre-industrial levels. Carbon lingers in the atmosphere anywhere between 300 to a 1,000 years. This means that carbon emitted decades ago is joined by today’s emissions and will hang around for centuries.  

Ocean Temperatures

A particularly concerning issue is a change in ocean temperature. Collectively, 32% of the global ocean cover experienced a heatwave in 2023. This is the widest-ever recorded heatwave, surpassing the previous record of 23% in 2016. 

It should come as no surprise that oceans can influence weather conditions on land. Two ocean circulation phenomena, El Niño and La Niña, are normal occurrences in the Pacific Ocean. El Niño causes warmer water to circulate in the Pacific, which influences warm and dry winter weather conditions in northern US and Canada. On the other hand, La Niña brings colder and wetter winter weather. 

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However, on the opposite side of the Americas, critical circulation systems in the Atlantic may be vulnerable to collapse. Research points to a weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). While this is alarming, scientists say the chances of a complete collapse in the 21st century are unlikely. What they’re more concerned about is AMOC reaching an alarming tipping point. A decrease in resilience and slower circulation speeds has been linked to changes in the Earth’s climate system. 

Sea Levels

A rise in ocean temperatures brings with it a rise in sea levels and a decrease in sea ice. Sea levels have risen more in the past ten years than in the first ten years (1993-2002) of satellite recording. In February 2023, the extent of Antarctic ice hit record lows and remained at a low until November. From 2016 to 2020, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets combined lost a total of 372 gigatonnes of mass per year.

In 2023, The US experienced a record-breaking number of billion-dollar climate disasters. As weather events become more frequent and extreme, more money is spent on the cleanup of these disasters. 

Weather events like hurricanes and floods disproportionately impact low-income and Black communities. One historical example is the monumental failures that occurred during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Over 1,800 people lost their lives because of the storm. The levees failed to protect vulnerable communities that were unable to evacuate before the storm made landfall. 

Last year, tropical cyclone Freddy made history as one of the longest-living cyclones. Although the storm began near Australia, it traveled across the Indian Ocean and wreaked havoc in East Africa. Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar were all affected. For more than a month, the storm caused torrential rainfall that resulted in extreme flooding. Thousands of people suffered, and the preexisting food insecurity across the region worsened. The storm destroyed up to 90% of cash crop viability in southern Madagascar. 

Climate Financing on the Up, Gaps Persist

Climate change records broken in 2023 also incorporate the world of funding and finance. Between 2021 and 2022, Climate-related finance funds amounted to over one trillion USD. Despite this gargantuan number, it only represented about 1% of global GDP. The WMO reports that the funding amount needs to grow by more than six times to maintain the universal agreement of limiting warming to 1.5º C. By 2030, the need for climate financing totals $9 trillion.

In 2023, funding from the US towards international public climate finance reached nearly $9.5 billion. The Biden administration hopes to achieve $3 billion in climate adaptation finance by the end of 2024. Adaptation funding helps the countries most vulnerable to climate-related impacts on several fronts. Reducing poverty, improving health outcomes, and creating new job opportunities are common goals of UN members. However, funding continues to fall short. 

Global adaption finance peaked at $63 billion in 2021/2022. Despite peaks in funding, developing countries alone need an estimated $212 billion per year through 2030.

The devastation that follows breaking climate change records is becoming more expensive. Storms are intensifying and occurring in greater frequency. Sea levels are continuing to rise, placing low-income coastal communities at a disadvantage. The cost of repairing infrastructure on top of retrofitting existing structures will quickly rack up quite an extensive bill.