2023 in climate change explained

This article documents events, research findings, scientific and technological advances, and human actions to measure, predict, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of global warming and climate change—during the year 2023.

Summaries

Measurements and statistics

Natural events and phenomena

Actions and goal statements

Science and technology

Political, economic, legal, and cultural actions

Mitigation goal statements

Adaptation goal statements

Consensus

Projections

Significant publications

See also

External links

Organizations

Surveys, summaries and report lists

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023 — IPCC . 18 April 2023 . 2 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502092340/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/ . live .
  2. News: ICN Staff . 2023 in Climate News . Inside Climate News . 27 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231227103827/https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27122023/2023-in-climate-news/ . 27 December 2023 . live .
  3. News: Harvey . Chelsea . A Mysterious Rise in Banned Chemicals Is Warming the Planet . 27 May 2023 . Scientific American . en.
  4. Western . Luke M. . Vollmer . Martin K. . Krummel . Paul B. . Adcock . Karina E. . Crotwell . Molly . Fraser . Paul J. . Harth . Christina M. . Langenfelds . Ray L. . Montzka . Stephen A. . Mühle . Jens . O'Doherty . Simon . Oram . David E. . Reimann . Stefan . Rigby . Matt . Vimont . Isaac . Weiss . Ray F. . Young . Dickon . Laube . Johannes C. . Global increase of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons from 2010 to 2020 . Nature Geoscience . April 2023 . 16 . 4 . 309–313 . 10.1038/s41561-023-01147-w . 2023NatGe..16..309W . 1983/9e103fef-e61c-49c7-a1a3-902540ec1d7c . 257941769 . en . 1752-0908. subscription. free .
  5. Rockström . Johan . Gupta . Joyeeta . et al. . Safe and just Earth system boundaries . Nature . 31 May 2023 . 619 . 7968 . 102–111 . 10.1038/s41586-023-06083-8 . 37258676 . 10322705 . 2023Natur.619..102R . en . 1476-4687. free.
  6. News: World poised to hit 1.5 degrees a year earlier than expected as carbon overspend continues . 22 March 2024 . cosmosmagazine.com . 5 December 2023 . en-AU.
  7. Friedlingstein . Pierre . O'Sullivan . Michael . Jones . Matthew W. . Andrew . Robbie M. . Bakker . Dorothee C. E. . et al. . Global Carbon Budget 2023 . Earth System Science Data . 5 December 2023 . 15 . 12 . 5301–5369 . 10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023 . English . 1866-3508. free. 10871/134742 . free .
  8. Web site: Wiatros-Motyka . Malgorzata . Fulghum . Nicolas . Jones . Dave . World passes 30% renewable electricity milestone . Ember-climate.org . Ember . https://web.archive.org/web/20240521032231/https://ember-climate.org/web/20240521032231/https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/global-electricity-review-2024/ . 21 May 2024 . 8 May 2024 . live .
  9. News: Vast glacier at mercy of sea warmth increases. 15 February 2023. BBC News. 15 February 2023. 15 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230215194026/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64640796. live.
  10. Schmidt . B. E. . Washam . P. . Davis . P. E. D. . Nicholls . K. W. . Holland . D. M. . Lawrence . J. D. . Riverman . K. L. . Smith . J. A. . Spears . A. . Dichek . D. J. G. . Mullen . A. D. . Clyne . E. . Yeager . B. . Anker . P. . Meister . M. R. . Hurwitz . B. C. . Quartini . E. S. . Bryson . F. E. . Basinski-Ferris . A. . Thomas . C. . Wake . J. . Vaughan . D. G. . Anandakrishnan . S. . Rignot . E. . Paden . J. . Makinson . K. . Heterogeneous melting near the Thwaites Glacier grounding line . Nature . February 2023 . 614 . 7948 . 471–478 . 10.1038/s41586-022-05691-0 . 36792738 . 9931587 . 2023Natur.614..471S . en . 1476-4687. free.
  11. Davis . Peter E. D. . Nicholls . Keith W. . Holland . David M. . Schmidt . Britney E. . Washam . Peter . Riverman . Kiya L. . Arthern . Robert J. . Vaňková . Irena . Eayrs . Clare . Smith . James A. . Anker . Paul G. D. . Mullen . Andrew D. . Dichek . Daniel . Lawrence . Justin D. . Meister . Matthew M. . Clyne . Elisabeth . Basinski-Ferris . Aurora . Rignot . Eric . Queste . Bastien Y. . Boehme . Lars . Heywood . Karen J. . Anandakrishnan . Sridhar . Makinson . Keith . Suppressed basal melting in the eastern Thwaites Glacier grounding zone . Nature . February 2023 . 614 . 7948 . 479–485 . 10.1038/s41586-022-05586-0 . 36792735 . 9931584 . 2023Natur.614..479D . en . 1476-4687. free.
  12. News: Antarctic sea ice extent sets a new record low. 14 February 2023. National Snow and Ice Data Center. 15 February 2023. 15 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230215000604/https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2023/02/antarctic-sea-ice-extent-sets-a-new-record-low/. live.
  13. News: 'Extreme situation': Antarctic sea ice hits record low. 15 February 2023. The Guardian. 15 February 2023. 15 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230215152037/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/15/antarctic-sea-ice-hits-record-low-climate-crisis. live.
  14. Gunn . Kathryn L. . Rintoul . Stephen R. . England . Matthew H. . Bowen . Melissa M. . Recent reduced abyssal overturning and ventilation in the Australian Antarctic Basin . Nature Climate Change . June 2023 . 13 . 6 . 537–544 . 10.1038/s41558-023-01667-8 . 2023NatCC..13..537G . en . 1758-6798. free.
  15. News: Can shooting clouds of Moon dust towards the Sun combat global warming?. 8 February 2023. Firstpost. 11 February 2023. 11 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230211150140/https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/can-shooting-clouds-of-moon-dust-towards-the-sun-combat-global-warming-12140482.html. live.
  16. Bromley . Benjamin C. . Khan . Sameer H. . Kenyon . Scott J. . Dust as a solar shield . PLOS Climate . 8 February 2023 . 2 . 2 . e0000133 . 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000133 . en . 2767-3200. free. — Research institute press release: News: Could space dust help protect the earth from climate change?. 8 February 2023. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics via EurekAlert. 11 February 2023. 11 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230211150143/https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/978998. live.
  17. News: Gabbatiss . Josh . Heat pumps 'up to three times cheaper' than green hydrogen in Europe, study finds . 21 April 2023 . Carbon Brief . 23 February 2023 . en . 21 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230421094515/https://www.carbonbrief.org/heat-pumps-up-to-three-times-cheaper-than-green-hydrogen-in-europe-study-finds/ . live .
  18. Weidner . Till . Guillén-Gosálbez . Gonzalo . Planetary boundaries assessment of deep decarbonisation options for building heating in the European Union . Energy Conversion and Management . 15 February 2023 . 278 . 116602 . 10.1016/j.enconman.2022.116602 . en . 0196-8904. free. 20.500.11850/599236 . free .
  19. Altermatt . Pietro P. . Clausen . Jens . Brendel . Heiko . Breyer . Christian . Gerhards . Christoph . Kemfert . Claudia . Claudia Kemfert . Weber . Urban . Wright . Matthew . Replacing gas boilers with heat pumps is the fastest way to cut German gas consumption . Communications Earth & Environment . 3 March 2023 . 4 . 1 . 56 . 10.1038/s43247-023-00715-7 . 2023ComEE...4...56A . en . 2662-4435. free.
  20. Web site: New study shows Earth energy imbalance . public.wmo.int . 28 May 2023 . en . 19 April 2023.
  21. von Schuckmann . Karina . Minière . Audrey . Gues . Flora . et al. . free . Heat stored in the Earth system 1960–2020: where does the energy go? . Earth System Science Data . 17 April 2023 . 15 . 4 . 1675–1709 . 10.5194/essd-15-1675-2023 . 2023ESSD...15.1675V . English . 1866-3508. 20.500.11850/619535 . free .
  22. Davies . Brittany . These State-of-the-Art Floating Turbines Could Revolutionize Wind Power - and They Look Like Something Out of a Sci-Fi Movie . The Cool Down . 3 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231001175832/https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/seatwirl-seattle-offshore-wind-power-turbines/ . 1 October 2023 . live .
  23. News: Studie sieht EU-weit 87 Milliarden Euro Mehrbedarf bei Erneuerbaren und E-Verkehr MDR.DE . 17 February 2023 . www.mdr.de . de . 17 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230217124623/https://www.mdr.de/wissen/mehrbedarf-bei-erneuerbaren-und-e-verkehr100.html . live .
  24. Klaaßen . Lena . Steffen . Bjarne . Meta-analysis on necessary investment shifts to reach net zero pathways in Europe . . January 2023 . 13 . 1 . 58–66 . 10.1038/s41558-022-01549-5 . 2023NatCC..13...58K . 255624692 . en . 1758-6798 . subscription . 20.500.11850/594937 . free . — Expert reviews of the study: Web site: Notwendige Investitionen auf dem Weg zu Netto-Null-Emissionen . www.sciencemediacenter.de . 17 February 2023 . en . 17 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230217124622/https://www.sciencemediacenter.de/alle-angebote/research-in-context/details/news/notwendige-investitionen-auf-dem-weg-zu-netto-null-emissionen/ . live .
  25. News: Harvey . Fiona . Fiona Harvey . 12 January 2023 . Fossil fuel producers must be forced to 'take back' carbon, say scientists . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230217005944/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/12/fossil-fuel-producers-must-be-forced-to-take-back-carbon-say-scientists . 17 February 2023 . 17 February 2023 . The Guardian.
  26. Jenkins . Stuart . Kuijper . Margriet . Helferty . Hugh . Girardin . Cécile . Allen . Myles . Extended producer responsibility for fossil fuels . Environmental Research Letters . 1 January 2023 . 18 . 1 . 011005 . 10.1088/1748-9326/aca4e8 . 2023ERL....18a1005J . 1748-9326. free.
  27. News: Kahn . Brian . New climate paper calls for charging big US oil firms with homicide . 22 April 2023 . . 22 March 2023 . 21 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230421221129/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/22/big-oil-companies-homicide-harvard-environmental-law-review . live .
  28. Arkush . David . Braman . Donald . Climate Homicide: Prosecuting Big Oil For Climate Deaths . 23 January 2023 . 10.2139/ssrn.4335779 . . 256447850 . en.
  29. News: Rationing could be an effective way to fight climate change . 25 March 2023 . Earth.com . en . 25 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230325184540/https://www.earth.com/news/rationing-could-be-an-effective-way-to-fight-climate-change/ . live .
  30. Wood . Nathan . Lawlor . Rob . Freear . Josie . Rationing and Climate Change Mitigation* . Ethics, Policy & Environment . 19 February 2023 . 1–29 . 10.1080/21550085.2023.2166342 . 2155-0085. free. — * University press release: News: Rationing: A fairer way to fight climate change? . 25 March 2023 . University of Leeds via phys.org . en . 25 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230325184541/https://phys.org/news/2023-02-rationing-fairer-climate.html . live .
  31. Winkler . Lisa . Pearce . Drew . Nelson . Jenny . Babacan . Oytun . The effect of sustainable mobility transition policies on cumulative urban transport emissions and energy demand . Nature Communications . 24 April 2023 . 14 . 1 . 2357 . 10.1038/s41467-023-37728-x . 37095105 . 10125996 . 2023NatCo..14.2357W . en . 2041-1723. free.
  32. News: Could a carbon tax on luxury items be fairer and more effective? . 29 August 2023 . euronews . 12 July 2023 . en.
  33. Oswald . Yannick . Millward-Hopkins . Joel . Steinberger . Julia K. . Owen . Anne . Ivanova . Diana . Luxury-focused carbon taxation improves fairness of climate policy . One Earth . July 2023 . 6 . 7 . 884–898 . 10.1016/j.oneear.2023.05.027. 2023OEart...6..884O . 259852986 . free .
  34. News: Niranjan . Ajit . Europe should cap 'luxury' energy use to meet emissions targets, study says . 29 August 2023 . The Guardian . 17 July 2023.
  35. Büchs . Milena . Cass . Noel . Mullen . Caroline . Lucas . Karen . Ivanova . Diana . Emissions savings from equitable energy demand reduction . Nature Energy . July 2023 . 8 . 7 . 758–769 . 10.1038/s41560-023-01283-y . 2023NatEn...8..758B . en . 2058-7546. free.
  36. Web site: Seeley . Kathy . Findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order . Montana First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County . https://web.archive.org/web/20230815005109/https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/held-v-montana-order.pdf . August 15, 2023 . August 14, 2023 . live. Order, §§6, 8, and 9 at p.102
  37. Starr . Jared . Nicolson . Craig . Ash . Michael . Markowitz . Ezra M. . Moran . Daniel . Income-based U.S. household carbon footprints (1990–2019) offer new insights on emissions inequality and climate finance . PLOS Climate . 17 August 2023 . 2 . 8 . e0000190 . 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000190 . en . 2767-3200. free. 11250/3101168 . free .
  38. Vallone . Simona . Lambin . Eric F. . Public policies and vested interests preserve the animal farming status quo at the expense of animal product analogs . One Earth . September 2023 . 6 . 9 . 1213–1226 . 10.1016/j.oneear.2023.07.013. 261010773 . free .
  39. Web site: Black . Simon . Liu . Antung A. . Parry . Ian W.H. . Vernon . Nate . IMF Fossil Fuel Subsidies Data: 2023 Update . https://web.archive.org/web/20240208124058/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2023/08/22/IMF-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-Data-2023-Update-537281 . 8 February 2024 . 24 August 2023 . live .
  40. Almaraz . Maya . Houlton . Benjamin Z. . Clark . Michael . Holzer . Iris . Zhou . Yanqiu . Rasmussen . Laura . Moberg . Emily . Manaigo . Erin . Halpern . Benjamin S. . Scarborough . Courtney . Lei . Xin Gen . Ho . Melissa . Allison . Edward . Sibanda . Lindiwe . Salter . Andrew . Model-based scenarios for achieving net negative emissions in the food system . PLOS Climate . 6 September 2023 . 2 . 9 . e0000181 . 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000181 . en . 2767-3200. free.
  41. Olczak . Maria . Piebalgs . Andris . Balcombe . Paul . A global review of methane policies reveals that only 13% of emissions are covered with unclear effectiveness . One Earth . May 2023 . 6 . 5 . 519–535 . 10.1016/j.oneear.2023.04.009. 2023OEart...6..519O . free.
  42. King . Lewis C. . Savin . Ivan . Drews . Stefan . Shades of green growth scepticism among climate policy researchers . Nature Sustainability . 7 August 2023 . 6 . 11 . 1316–1320 . 10.1038/s41893-023-01198-2 . 260176492 . en . 2398-9629.
  43. News: Earth is on track to exceed 1.5C warming in the next decade, study using AI finds . 30 January 2023 . The Guardian . 31 January 2023 . 31 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230131004732/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/30/climate-crisis-global-heating-artificial-intelligence . live .
  44. Diffenbaugh . Noah S. . Barnes . Elizabeth A. . Data-driven predictions of the time remaining until critical global warming thresholds are reached . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 7 February 2023 . 120 . 6 . e2207183120 . 10.1073/pnas.2207183120 . 36716375 . 9963891 . 2023PNAS..12007183D . 256414790 . en . 0027-8424.
  45. Bergero . Candelaria . etal . Pathways to net-zero emissions from aviation . . 30 January 2023 . 6 . 4 . 404–414 . 10.1038/s41893-022-01046-9 . 256449498 . free . — News article about the study: News: Calma . Justine . We can't afford to offset our aviation emissions . The Verge . 31 January 2023 . 24 February 2023 . 15 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230215204709/https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/31/23579475/aviation-emissions-cost-carbon-offsets-climate-change . live .
  46. News: Marris . Emma . Fighting Climate Change Was Costly. Now It's Profitable. . 28 March 2023 . The Atlantic . 8 February 2023 . en . 28 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230328150753/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/02/inflation-reduction-act-eu-green-deal-industrial-plan/672985/ . live .
  47. Bi . Stephen L. . Bauer . Nico . Jewell . Jessica . Coal-exit alliance must confront freeriding sectors to propel Paris-aligned momentum . Nature Climate Change . February 2023 . 13 . 2 . 130–139 . 10.1038/s41558-022-01570-8 . 2023NatCC..13..130B . 256659280 . en . 1758-6798. free . — Research institute press release: News: Coal exit can happen only with stronger policies, and with China cooperating, says study . 28 March 2023 . Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research via phys.org . en . 28 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230328150755/https://phys.org/news/2023-02-coal-exit-stronger-policies-china.html . live .
  48. News: Carrington . Damian . Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target, shows study . 21 April 2023 . The Guardian . 6 March 2023 . 21 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230421071113/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/06/meat-dairy-rice-high-methane-food-production-bust-climate-target-study . live .
  49. Ivanovich . Catherine C. . Sun . Tianyi . Gordon . Doria R. . Ocko . Ilissa B. . Future warming from global food consumption . Nature Climate Change . March 2023 . 13 . 3 . 297–302 . 10.1038/s41558-023-01605-8 . 2023NatCC..13..297I . en . 1758-6798. free.
  50. News: Dixit . Mrigakshi . Greenland ice sheet close to point of no return, reveals computer model . 23 April 2023 . interestingengineering.com . 28 March 2023 . 23 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230423103221/https://interestingengineering.com/science/greenland-ice-sheet-irreversible-melting . live .
  51. Höning . Dennis . Willeit . Matteo . Calov . Reinhard . Klemann . Volker . Bagge . Meike . Ganopolski . Andrey . Multistability and Transient Response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to Anthropogenic CO 2 Emissions . Geophysical Research Letters . 28 March 2023 . 50 . 6 . e2022GL101827 . 10.1029/2022GL101827 . 2023GeoRL..5001827H . en . 0094-8276. free.
  52. Vogel . Jefim . Hickel . Jason . Is green growth happening? An empirical analysis of achieved versus Paris-compliant –GDP decoupling in high-income countries . The Lancet Planetary Health . September 2023 . 7 . 9 . e759–e769 . 10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00174-2. 37673546 . 261551290 .
  53. News: Chason . Rachel . Crowe . Kevin . Muyskens . John . Chikwendiu . Jahi . Where Malaria is Spreading . The Washington Post . 23 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240226052449/https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/malaria-disease-spread-climate-change-warming/ . 26 February 2024.