June-August 2024 were hottest ever recorded: EU

AFP/APP

Paris: The summer of 2024 saw the highest global temperatures ever recorded, surpassing last year’s record and making 2024 likely to be the hottest year in history, according to the EU’s climate monitor.

Data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service highlighted a season of heatwaves around the world, which scientists attribute to human-driven climate change.

“During the past three months of 2024, the globe has experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record, and the hottest boreal summer on record,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, in a report. “This string of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest year on record.”

The average global surface temperature in August was 16.82°C, according to Copernicus, which compiles billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft, and weather stations.

Both June and August temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average a critical threshold in efforts to limit the worst effects of climate change.

Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions continue to warm the planet, raising the frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters like droughts, wildfires, and floods.

While the El Niño weather phenomenon exacerbated heat in 2023 and early 2024, Copernicus scientist Julien Nicolas told AFP that its effects were not as strong as they have been in the past. Meanwhile, the opposing La Niña cooling cycle has not yet begun, he noted.