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Even against a backdrop of rising temperatures, the year 2023 stood out: it was a year with exceptional heat as well as exceptionally widespread heat. Antarctic sea ice extent was at a record low, in one of a succession of low-sea-ice years. It is not yet clear what caused the various climatic anomalies in 2023, but the answers will shape our understanding of what is to come – whether 2023 was a singular outlier year, or if it is a new baseline from which warming will continue to new levels.
In this cross-journal Collection, we have collected Comments and Reviews that give a glimpse of what we know so far. We invite complementary submissions that investigate - at a local, regional or global scale - how the climate or climate impacts of the year 2023 were remarkable. We also welcome articles that shed light on the mechanisms that led to these exceptional climate conditions.