This summer was the warmest worldwide since measurements began, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced. Accordingly, the global average temperature in the months of June to August was 0.69 degrees above the average for the reference period from 1991 to 2020.
Copernicus relies on a dataset based on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world. Europe also experienced its warmest summer since records began – with an average temperature 1.54 degrees higher than that from 1991 to 2020.
The average surface temperature on Earth in August was 16.82 degrees Celsius, 1.51 degrees above pre-industrial levels. However, if you look at the average over the past twelve months, the average temperature on Earth between 1850 and 1900 was 1.64 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial average.
The Paris climate target is hardly realistic
The 1.5 degree limit has already been exceeded in twelve of the past thirteen months. Nevertheless, the Paris climate target of keeping long-term global warming below 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels is not yet considered achieved.
The current year is once again on track to become the warmest year on record. According to Copernicus, the average global temperature deviation since the start of the year was 0.7 degrees higher than the average for the reference period of 1991 to 2020 – the highest value ever recorded.
To avoid a record year, the deviation would have to drop by at least 0.3 degrees in the remaining months – something that has never happened before, according to the Copernicus announcement.
“The last three months of 2024 saw the hottest June and August, the hottest day and the hottest boreal summer on record,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. This series of temperature records increases the likelihood that 2024 will be the warmest year on record.
Second warmest August in Europe
Europe experienced its second warmest August on record after August 2022, but with regional differences. The average temperature on mainland Europe was 1.57 degrees above average between 1991 and 2020.
While temperatures were above average in southern and eastern Europe, they were below average in the northwestern parts of Ireland and the United Kingdom, Iceland, the west coast of Portugal and southern Norway.
Source: Krone
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