2023 was the warmest year in the history of Romania, Environment Ministry says

Romania’s Environment Ministry recently announced that 2023 was the warmest year in history for the country. The warmest year in history also had the warmest Christmas.

The average temperature throughout the year was 12.5 degrees Celsius, a 2.3-degree deviation from the 1981-2010 period. Also, the interval 2012-2023 is the warmest 12 consecutive years in the history of meteorological measurements, according to the National Meteorological Administration, cited by Profit.ro.

Temperatures on Christmas Day reached a maximum of 17 degrees Celsius, and at the meteorological station in Calafat, near the Black Sea, almost 21 degrees were registered, a record for the last six years.

According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, at the European level 2023 has been the warmest year ever recorded.

Romania's Environment Ministry noted that "humanity is currently emitting about 40 gigatons of CO2 per year. To remain within the limits of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the total amount of carbon we can still emit is about 250 gigatons. Taking into account other factors contributing to warming, the time remaining to completely reduce emissions is about five years,” the statement said. The institution also cited statements made by the World Meteorological Organization, which noted the increased pace of climate change at the COP28 summit on climate.

The 2011-2020 period is the warmest decade ever recorded, and the average global surface temperature reached record highs in the first 11 months of the year, according to the European observer Copernicus. The Copernicus Programme is the Earth observation program of the European Union, a program that monitors the planet and the environment for the ultimate benefit of all European citizens. It provides information services based on Earth observation through satellite and in situ (non-spatial) data. The program is coordinated and managed by the European Commission.

From January to November, the temperature was on average 1.46 degrees Celsius higher than in the 1850-1900 period. As a result, 2023 was the warmest year ever recorded in terms of annual average. Every month saw record temperatures, with November ending the warmest boreal autumn in the Northern Hemisphere in modern times, the institution says.

Continued warming means that extreme weather phenomena will become even more frequent and intense, exacerbating the damage and loss of human lives caused by droughts, floods, hurricanes, and fires.