It is “increasingly likely” that 2024 will be the hottest year on record, despite July ending a 13-month streak of monthly temperature records, the EU’s climate monitor said Thursday.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported that July 2024 was the second warmest on record, only slightly cooler than July 2023. Between June 2023 and June 2024, each month surpassed its own temperature record for the time of year.
“The streak of record-breaking months has come to an end, but only by a whisker,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S. Last month, the global average temperature was 16.91 degrees Celsius, just 0.04°C below July 2023, according to C3S’s monthly bulletin.
Burgess emphasized that “the overall context hasn’t changed; our climate continues to warm.” From January to July, global temperatures were 0.70°C above the 1991-2020 average. For 2024 not to surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record, this anomaly would need to drop significantly, making it “increasingly likely that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record,” said C3S.
In July 2024, temperatures were 1.48°C warmer than the estimated average for the month during 1850-1900, the pre-industrial period. This resulted in extreme heat affecting millions worldwide, with the Earth experiencing its two hottest days on record on July 22 and 23, reaching 17.6°C.
The Mediterranean was gripped by a heatwave deemed “virtually impossible” without global warming, while China and Japan recorded their hottest July. Additionally, record-breaking rainfall hit Pakistan, wildfires ravaged the western US, and Hurricane Beryl caused destruction from the Caribbean to the southeastern United States.
Ocean temperatures, which absorb 90% of the excess heat from human activities, were the second warmest on record for July. Average sea surface temperatures were 20.88°C, only 0.01°C below July 2023.
Despite a shift from the El Niño weather pattern, which raises global temperatures, to its cooling counterpart La Niña, air temperatures over the ocean remained unusually high. Reflecting on the year, World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Celeste Saulo noted “widespread, intense, and extended heatwaves.”
The ongoing climate crisis underscores the urgent need for global greenhouse gas emissions to reach net zero to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change.
