The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed that 2023 was the warmest year in records extending back to the mid-nineteenth century, with the global average close to 1.48 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

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Every month from June onwards set a record for that month, and ocean surface temperatures remained at unprecedented levels for much of the year. Wildfires in Canada burned an area larger than many European countries.

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Scientists attributed the anomaly to continued greenhouse gas emissions combined with the onset of an El Niño event and reduced sulphur emissions from shipping.