The summer of 2024 has set new records as the hottest ever recorded, surpassing last year’s temperatures and potentially making this year the warmest in Earth’s history, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The data highlights the escalating impacts of human-driven climate change and the urgent need for action.
Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of Copernicus, reported that the past three months have seen unprecedented heat levels. “We’ve experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record, and the hottest boreal summer on record,” Burgess stated. “This string of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest year on record.”
In August 2024, the global average temperature at the Earth’s surface reached 16.82°C. Both June and August exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels—a critical threshold for preventing severe climate impacts. The report emphasizes that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are significantly contributing to this trend, exacerbating the intensity and frequency of climate-related disasters such as droughts, fires, and floods.
The Copernicus data indicates that while regions like Alaska, the eastern United States, parts of South America, Pakistan, and the Sahel desert experienced cooler temperatures, other areas, including Australia, parts of China, Japan, and Spain, saw record warmth. August 2024 matched the previous global temperature record for that month, set just a year earlier, and June was notably hotter than last year.
The cyclical El Niño phenomenon has amplified the heat, though its effects were less severe compared to some previous instances. Meanwhile, the cooling La Niña phenomenon has yet to emerge. Despite some regional variations, the overall trend shows a significant rise in global temperatures. July 2023 was slightly hotter than July 2024, but the three-month period from June to August 2024 broke previous records.
The report also highlighted that the average sea surface temperature in August was just under 21°C, the second-highest for that month. This warming of the oceans increases the risk of more intense storms and hurricanes. The report noted drier conditions in continental Europe, leading to severe wildfires in countries like Greece, while parts of western Russia and Turkey experienced unusual rainfall and flooding. The eastern United States also saw increased rainfall, with Hurricane Debby causing significant impacts.
The current level of average warming stands at about 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels. While the 1.5°C threshold has been exceeded in 13 of the past 14 months, scientists stress that this threshold will not be considered definitively breached until it is consistently exceeded over multiple decades.
Burgess warned that the intensity of temperature-related extreme events is expected to grow, with potentially devastating consequences for both people and the planet. “The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.
As governments and organizations work towards meeting their emissions reduction targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement, the latest data underscores the urgent need for enhanced climate action to mitigate the severe impacts of global warming.
Sources By Agencies
