Summer in the UK may have been cold and rainy.
But globally, this summer was the hottest on record, according to new data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (CS3).
The global average temperature in June, July and August was 0.69°C above average, surpassing the previous record set last year.
“Over the last three months of 2024, the world has experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record, and the hottest northern summer on record,” said Samantha Burgess, C3S Deputy Director.
‘This series of record temperatures increases the likelihood that 2024 will be the warmest year on record.’
The UK summer may have been cold and rainy, but globally, this summer has been the hottest on record, according to new data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (CS3).
The average global temperature during June, July and August was 0.69 °C above average, thus surpassing the previous record set last year. Pictured: Valencia on August 11
CS3 regularly publishes global climate data, based on billions of measurements taken from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.
Their latest data shows that August 2024 was, along with August 2023, the warmest August on record globally.
The global average temperature was 16.82 °C, 0.71 °C higher than the August average for the period 1991-2020.
Considering summer as a whole (June-August), the average temperature was the highest on record, 0.69°C above the 1991-2020 average, thus surpassing the previous record for June-August 2023 (0.66°C).
Overall, this means that 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record.
‘The cumulative global mean temperature anomaly for the year (January-August 2024) is 0.70°C higher than the 1991-2020 average, which is the highest on record for this period and 0.23°C warmer than the same period in 2023,’ CS3 explained.
Looking at summer as a whole (June-August), the average temperature was the highest on record, 0.69°C above the 1991-2020 average, thus surpassing the previous record for June-August 2023 (0.66°C).
Several countries in the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia have experienced record temperatures this year. Pictured: Oroville, California, on July 2
‘The mean anomaly for the remaining months of this year would have to drop by at least 0.30°C for 2024 to not be warmer than 2023.
“This has never happened in the entire ERA5 dataset, making it increasingly likely that 2024 will be the warmest year on record.”
Several countries in the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia have experienced record heat this year.
Writing for The conversationUMass Lowell climate scientists Professor Mathew Barlow and Professor Jeffrey Basara highlighted just a few of the devastating cases we’ve seen this year.
“In Mexico and Central America, weeks of persistent heat beginning in spring 2024, combined with prolonged drought, led to severe water shortages and dozens of deaths,” they wrote.
Overall, this means 2024 is on track to be the warmest year on record, according to researchers at the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
‘Extreme heat turned to tragedy in Saudi Arabia when more than 1,000 people performing the Hajj, a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, fainted and died. Temperatures reached 51.8°C (125°F) at the Grand Mosque in Mecca on June 17.
‘Hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan, have been overwhelmed amid weeks of intense heat, frequent power outages and water shortages in some areas.
‘Neighboring India faced temperatures of around 120 F (48.9 C) for several days in April and May that affected millions of people, many of them without air conditioning.
‘Japan issued heatstroke warnings in Tokyo and more than half of its prefectures as temperatures rose to record levels in early July.
‘Large parts of Europe were suffering from a prolonged heatwave as they prepared for the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in late July.’
According to Burgess, climate change is partly responsible for this record heat and things will only get worse.
“The extreme temperature events we have witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet, unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he warned.