World hits record land, sea temperatures as climate change fuels 2023 extremes

There is now a 66 per cent likelihood the annual mean will cross the 1.5 deg C threshold for a whole year. - Photo: AFP

SINGAPORE - SOUTH-EAST ASIA, July 3 (Reuters): The target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) is moving out of reach, climate experts say, with nations failing to set more ambitious goals despite months of record-breaking heat on land and sea.

As envoys gathered in Bonn in early June to prepare for this year's annual climate talks in November, average global surface air temperatures were more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for several days, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said.