Summer of 2023 hottest on record, NASA scientists say

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — You probably heard that July was the hottest month on record. Now scientists are saying that it was the hottest summer since global records began in 1880.

That’s the report from NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York.

During June, July and August, temperatures were 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit (0.23 degrees Celsius) warmer than any summer in NASA’s records.

Las Vegas escaped some of that heat with June temperatures that were below normal and a week of wet weather in August as Tropical Storm Hilary blew through. But July was a hot one as the high temperature was above 100 every day of the month, data from the National Weather Service shows. July also included a 16-day run when the high was above 110, except one day when the high was 109. July 16 reached 116 degrees.

A map shows extreme heat over the Pacific Ocean — a signature of El Niño conditions — as well as above-average temperatures in Europe and North Africa, the Middle East, Central America, Mexico, Japan, and in the Arctic region and Antarctica.

The Goddard Institute notes that heat exacerbated deadly wildfires in Canada and Hawaii and likely contributed to severe rainfall in Italy, Greece and Central Europe.

“Summer 2023’s record-setting temperatures aren’t just a set of numbers — they result in dire real-world consequences. From sweltering temperatures in Arizona and across the country to wildfires across Canada and extreme flooding in Europe and Asia, extreme weather is threatening lives and livelihoods around the world,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. “The impacts of climate change are a threat to our planet and future generations, threats that NASA and the Biden-Harris Administration are tackling head on.”

Scientists expect to see the biggest impacts of El Niño in February, March, and April 2024. El Niño is associated with the weakening of easterly trade winds and the movement of warm water from the western Pacific toward the western coast of the Americas. The phenomenon can have widespread effects, often bringing cooler, wetter conditions to the U.S. Southwest.

“Unfortunately, climate change is happening. Things that we said would come to pass are coming to pass,” Gavin Schmidt, climate scientist and director of GISS, said. “And it will get worse if we continue to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.”