2023 was the hottest year in history — and Canada is warming faster than anywhere else on earth

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Conversation or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (CCCS) confirmed that 2023 was the hottest year on record, with the global average temperature reaching 1.48 C above pre-industrial level
• Canada, with a large land mass at high northern latitudes, experiences warming about twice the global average, and in the Canadian Arctic, warming is about three times higher.

🔭 The context: The World Economic Forum's 2024 Global Risks Report identifies extreme weather events as the highest risk over the next decade
• This warming trend is causing more extreme weather events and has led to record high atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Canada's unique climate, characterized by "Arctic amplification," highlights the uneven impacts of global warming
• The significant loss of snow and ice, leading to reduced surface reflectivity and increased absorption of solar radiation, exemplifies the serious environmental changes due to climate change

⏭️ What's next: Urgent action is required to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and implement adaptation strategies
• This is crucial for Canada and globally to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience against the extremes of a warming climate

📈 One stat: The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide reached 419 parts-per-million in 2023, 2.4 ppm higher than in 2022

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