2024 on track to be hottest year on record
While July 2024 was very slightly cooler than July 2023, it is becoming "increasingly likely" that 2024 will be the hottest year on record, Copernicus, the European Climate Change Observatory, reported on Thursday.
The streak of 13 consecutive monthly records for surface heat "has come to an end, but only by a hair's breadth", Samantha Burgess, deputy head of the Climate Change Service at Copernicus, said.
The past month saw record-breaking heat in Greece and Japan. Temperatures rose to 48° C in Morocco, causing 21 deaths in 24 hours. The global average surface temperature was 16.91° C, just 0.04° C lower than the previous record set in July 2023, according to the Copernicus Monthly Bulletin.
The heat was particularly intense in the western US and Canada, most of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as East Antarctica and Europe, which experienced its second hottest July behind July 2010.
Warmer nights
The past month was 1.48° C warmer than a normal July in the period 1850-1900, before humans began to emit greenhouse gases. This is slightly less than the symbolic 1.5° C limit, which has been exceeded every month for the past year. But July 2024 will still be the second hottest month on record for all seasons combined, according to Copernicus.
Climate change is also increasing the number of nights when the temperature does not fall below 25° C, according to a study by Climate Central, an independent group of scientists and climate communication specialists.
High night-time temperatures are a health risk, as they prevent the human body from cooling down at night and recovering from the heat of the day.
© PHOTO CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP
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