European Climate Change Service: 2023 officially the hottest year on record

Copernicus, the European Climate Change Service estimates that 2023 is on track to become the hottest year on record. November was the sixth record-breaking month in a row: with an average daily temperature of 14.22 degrees Celsius, surpassing the 2020 record by 0.32 degrees.

"There have been new records for six consecutive months and two seasons. This exceptional November means that 2023 will be the hottest year on record," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the service.

Furthermore, between January and November, the average temperature was 1.46 degrees above averages recorded in the pre-industrial period and 0.13 degrees above the record of 2016, the year that held the record so far, the Bonn-based institute reported.

The new Copernicus report comes as negotiators in Dubai prepare to wrap up the first week of talks at COP28. Wednesday's sessions will focus on transport, the second leading sector for carbon dioxide emissions with panels on building electric vehicle charging infrastructure and decarbonising urban freight transport.

Despite the rapid growth of electric vehicles in some countries, oil still accounts for nearly 91% of the energy used in the transportation sector, according to the International Energy Agency.

And it's a sector that includes hard-to-decarbonize industries like aviation and shipping, where reducing emissions will require big increases in the production of sustainable aviation fuel, for planes, and alternative fuels like hydrogen for ships.

Copernicus data date to 1940. United States government calculated data date to 1850. Scientists using proxies such as ice cores, tree rings and corals have said this is the warmest decade since Earth has seen about 125,000 years, predating human civilization. And the last few months have been the hottest of the last decade.

Scientists say there are two driving forces behind the six-month record, one being human-caused climate change from the burning of coal, oil and gas. It's like an escalator. But the natural El Nino-La Nina cycle is like jumping up or down on that escalator.