European Union’s climate monitor on Monday (Jul 8) revealed that last month was the hottest June on record across the globe. The global average temperature recorded last month broke the previous June record set in 2023.
Since June last year, the world has baked for 12 consecutive months, setting a streak of unprecedented global heat, as per the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The data suggests that 2024 could pip 2023 as the hottest year since record-keeping began.
“This is more than a statistical oddity and it highlights a large and continuing shift in our climate,” said the service director, Carlo Buontempo.
“Even if this specific streak of extremes ends at some point, we are bound to see new records being broken as the climate continues to warm.”
C3S, a scientific organisation that belongs to the EU’s space programme used data from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations to arrive at the conclusion. The data showed that June 2024 was the 12th month in succession with temperatures 1.5C greater than their average between 1850 and 1900.
The data by the EU climate monitor does not mean that the 1.5C warming limit agreed upon in Paris in 2015 had been reached as the goal is measured in decades, not individual years. However, Copernicus last month stated it was very likely (80 per cent chance) that Earth’s annual average temperatures would at least temporarily exceed the 1.5C mark during the next five years.
The severe heatwave and its effects were on full display during the Haj pilgrimage last month when reports stated that more than 1,000 people had died due to heat-related illnesses.
El Nino contributes to heat
Notably, the record-breaking heat across the planet coincided with El Nino – a natural phenomenon that contributed to hotter weather. As a result, the ocean temperatures have also breached new records.
In June, sea surface temperatures hit 16 straight months of new highs, which the experts have described as “striking”.
According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, 1.5C of warming might kill 70-90 per cent of tropical coral reefs, while 2C warming will wipe them off of existence.
The oceans cover 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface and absorb 90 per cent of the extra heat associated with rising climate-warming emissions.
(With inputs from agencies)
