2023 Hottest Recorded Year as Earth Nears Key Limit

FILE - A billboard displays a temperature of 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celcius) during a record heat wave in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 18, 2023. FILE - Activists protest against fossil fuels at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit on Dec. 5, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. FILE - The Canelon Grande reservoir just north of Canelones, Uruguay, lies dry March 14, 2023, as the country goes through a severe drought. FILE - People suffering from heat-related ailments crowd the district hospital in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh state, India, on June 20, 2023.

The year 2023 was the hottest on record, with the increase in Earth's surface temperature nearly crossing the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, EU climate monitors said Tuesday.