WASHINGTON, January 12. /TASS/. The past year has become the warmest since observations began, researchers from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.

"Earth’s average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Global temperatures last year were around 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the average," NASA said in a statement.

According to the agency, July was the hottest month ever recorded. Overall, the Earth was about 1.4 degrees Celsius warmer in 2023 than the late 19th-century average, when modern record-keeping began. "In 2023, hundreds of millions of people around the world experienced extreme heat, and each month from June through December set a global record for the respective month," the statement said.

"NASA and NOAA’s (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - TASS) global temperature report confirms what billions of people around the world experienced last year; we are facing a climate crisis," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.

The document notes that, according to scientists, the planet’s global warming trend is driven by human activity and fossil fuel emissions as well as by yearly or multi-year changes in climate such as El Nino, aerosols and pollution, and volcanic eruptions.