World to hit 1.4C of warming in record hot 2023

South Korean tourists shield themselves from the strong sun with umbrellas during Spain's third heatwave of the summer, in Ronda, Spain, August 9, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

DUBAI (Reuters) - With a month to run, 2023 will reach global warming of about 1.4 degrees Celsius (2.5 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels, adding to "a deafening cacophony" of broken climate records, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.

The WMO's provisional State of the Global Climate report confirms that 2023 will be the warmest year on record by a large margin, replacing the previous record-holder 2016, when the world was around 1.2C warmer than the preindustrial average.