2023 unfolded as a year of relentless climate extremes – a symphony of record heat, unprecedented rainfall, and raging fires that echoed like a broken record. Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), aptly characterized it as a year where climate records fell like dominoes.

This extraordinary sequence of record-breaking events serves as an ominous signal, a stark reminder of the impending consequences if global reliance on fossil fuels persists. "As long as greenhouse gas concentrations keep rising, we can't expect different outcomes from those seen this year,” emphasized C3S director Carlo Buontempo in an interview with Al Jazeera.

Beyond mere statistics, these climatic upheavals reverberate globally, inflicting severe hardships on millions of people. Disturbingly, over the past 15 years, more than 376 million individuals worldwide have been forcibly displaced due to floods, windstorms, earthquakes, or droughts. The forecast is even more alarming, projecting that by 2050, a staggering 1.2 billion people will become climate refugees, with the majority hailing from nations least equipped to handle the fallout from climate change.

These are the stark and undeniable climate records shattered in the tumultuous year of 2023.

1. 2023 Was the Planet’s Hottest Year on Record

2.  18.5 Million Hectares Burned in Canada

3. Record-Breaking Rains in China

4. Oceans’ Surface Temperatures off the Charts

5. Deadliest Wildfire in the US in More Than a Century

6. Largest Fire Ever Recorded in the EU

7. Pakistan’s Floods Triggered Largest Disaster Displacement in a Decade

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