Absolutely, the claim that 2023 is the hottest year on record has been substantiated by highly credible sources, with clear and precise measurements indicating this is indeed the case. To begin with, the article referenced comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a highly credible U.S. governmental agency renowned for its climate research. Their statement is based on NOAA’s "Annual 2023 Global Climate Report" from the National Centers for Environmental Information, which compiles temperature data worldwide. According to their report, the global average temperature for 2023 reached 14.98°C, surpassing the previous record set in 2016, which had a global average of 14.84°C. For reference, this report is available here: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/global/202313.
Moreover, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)—a United Nations agency tasked with coordinating global meteorological standards—also confirms that 2023 marked an unprecedented peak in global temperatures. In its "State of Global Climate" report, the WMO specifies that the average global temperature in 2023 was 1.48°C higher than the pre-industrial baseline (1850–1900). This assessment underscores that 2023 is the warmest year recorded since 1880, the point from which consistent global data has been available, as confirmed by NASA’s Earth Observatory data: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/global-temperatures.
Several factors have contributed to this record-breaking year. While global temperatures have shown an upward trend since the Industrial Revolution due to the extensive use of fossil fuels and resultant greenhouse gas emissions, the 2023 temperature spike was further amplified by the El Niño climate phenomenon. El Niño, which periodically warms surface waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific, added an extra warming effect in 2023, much as it did in 2016, the previous record year. The WMO offers more details on the recent El Niño conditions in their article: https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/el-nino-weakens-impacts-continue.
The scientific consensus on the drivers of this trend remains clear. While natural phenomena like El Niño can intensify warming in specific years, the ongoing upward trend is primarily due to human activities. For further evidence of this, NASA provides a comprehensive overview of climate change data here: https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/evidence/.
In summary, 2023’s record temperatures reflect a well-documented long-term trend in global warming, underscored by the highest average global temperature ever recorded at 14.98°C.