June 2024 was the warmest June since weather records began. The temperature was 1.5 degrees above the estimated average over the years 1850 to 1900, making it the twelfth month in a row in which the 1.5 degree threshold was reached or exceeded.
In the Paris Climate Agreement of late 2015, the international community set itself the goal of keeping global warming well below two degrees, but if possible to limit it to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. However, this concerns average temperatures over longer periods of time, not individual months or years.
The 1.5 degree threshold can no longer be maintained
Many climate experts assume that the 1.5 degree limit can no longer be maintained. According to data from Copernicus, the global temperature was 1.64 degrees above the pre-industrial average for the entire period from July 2023 to June 2024.
The average surface temperature in June was 16.66 degrees. This was 0.67 degrees above the June average from 1991 to 2020 and 0.14 degrees above the previous high of June 2023. The European average temperature in June 2024 exceeded the average value for the June months from 1991 to 2020 by 1.57 degrees.
Extreme heat and flooding
This made it the second warmest June since records began in Europe. It was particularly warm in the south-east of the continent and in Turkey, while temperatures in western Europe, Iceland and north-west Russia were close to or below average.
In Iceland, Central Europe and large parts of southwestern Europe, June was wetter than average, “with heavy rainfall leading to flooding in several regions of Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland.”
Outside Europe, temperatures were above average in eastern Canada, the western United States and Mexico, Brazil, northern Siberia, the Middle East, North Africa and West Antarctica.
“We will inevitably break new records”
“This is more than just a statistical curiosity, but illustrates a major and persistent climate change,” says Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo. “Even if this particular series of extremes eventually ends, we will inevitably see new records as the climate continues to warm. This is inevitable if we do not stop dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and oceans.”
The natural weather phenomenon El Niño may have contributed to the temperature records. It causes water temperatures in parts of the Pacific Ocean and air temperatures to rise every few years.
Source: Krone
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