The planet had its hottest summer on record – for the second year in a row
The summer broke global heat records for the second year in a row, scientists have confirmed – putting 2024 on track to be the hottest year on record.
The period between June and August – summer in the Northern Hemisphere – was the world’s hottest period since records began in 1940, according to data released on Friday by Copernicus, the European Climate Change Agency.
This summer was 0.69 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1991-2020 average, beating the previous record set last summer (2023) by 0.03 degrees, Copernicus found.
It’s the latest in a series of fallen global heat records, but it won’t be the last, scientists warn, as humans continue to pump planet-warming fossil fuels and raise global temperatures.
The effects and damage to human health and lives were clear as countries around the world suffered from extreme summer temperatures, fueling deadly heat waves, record-breaking wildfires and devastating storms.
Even in winter in the southern hemisphere the heat was too much.
Last month, Australia broke its national record for the hottest day in August, reaching 41.6 degrees Celsius (106.9 Fahrenheit). Meanwhile, temperatures in parts of Antarctica rose 50 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in July.
The Copernicus data confirms what seemed likely after the planet experienced its hottest June on record, followed by the hottest single July days on record.
The summer was capped by the hottest August on record, Copernicus confirmed on Friday.
With an average temperature of 16.82 degrees Celsius (62.28 Fahrenheit), it was 1.51 degrees Celsius warmer than the average August in the pre-industrial era, the era before humans began burning large amounts of fossil fuels.
Overall, the 12 months from September 2023 to August 2024 were the warmest on record for any time period, and 1.64 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels, Copernicus found.
«This streak of record temperatures raises the likelihood that 2024 will be the hottest (calendar) year on recordsaid Copernicus Deputy Director Samantha Burgess.
There are several factors that cause fluctuations in global temperatures, including natural climate patterns such as El Niño, which originates in the tropical Pacific Ocean and has a global warming effect, as well as man-made factors such as the burning of fossil fuels, a major driver of the climate crisis .
El Niño, which helped push record temperatures, ended in June, but scientists say its effects aren’t stopping immediately.
«This summer’s record global warmth was expected given the continued warmth from a receding El Niño event, which added to ongoing warming from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.Richard Allen, professor of climatology at the University of Reading, said. United Kingdom.
It is “extremely worrying” that the past 12 months have exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.5 degrees Celsius, Allen told CNN, but said it was “inevitable given the slow pace of action by governments” to reduce global warming pollution.
Scientists have long warned that the world must limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels to prevent the most devastating effects of climate change.
Although they are more concerned with long-term disruptions – over decades rather than individual years – the steady drumbeat of temporary disruptions is an alarming sign of where the world is headed and what it means for people’s lives.
Burgess of Copernicus warned that much worse was to come:
«The temperature-related extremes seen this summer will become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet, unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.he said.