June 2023 has been officially recorded as the hottest June in history. This is the 13th consecutive month to set a new temperature record. Data released by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service confirms this streak.
Also Read: Polar Rain Aurora Observed from Earth for the First Time
The global average temperature for the past 12 months has been 1.5C warmer than pre-industrial levels, the threshold set by the Paris Agreement.
The European climate service Copernicus reported that June 2024 was 0.67C above the 30-year average for the month reaching an average temperature of 16.66C.
This broke the previous hottest June record by 0.14C and was the third-hottest month in Copernicus records which date back to 1940.
The sustained high temperatures have led to worsening floods, storms, droughts and heatwaves. Regions like Southeast Europe, Türkiye, eastern Canada, the western United States and Mexico, Brazil, northern Siberia, the Middle East, northern Africa and western Antarctica experienced extreme heat in June.
In Pakistan doctors treated thousands of heatstroke victims as temperatures soared to 47C and recorded hottest June.
Hottest June 2024 was the 15th consecutive month that the world’s oceans broke heat records. Oceans, which cover more than two-thirds of Earth’s surface absorb much of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases leading to long-term warming effects.
The natural El Niño phenomenon, which warms the central Pacific Ocean contributed to the spike in global temperatures. The strong El Niño that began last year ended in June.
Marine shipping regulations aimed at reducing sulfur emissions have made the air over Atlantic shipping lanes cleaner.
This has temporarily increased the rate of warming, as traditional air pollution particles that have a cooling effect are reduced.
Climate scientists predict a 95% chance that 2024 will surpass 2023 as the warmest year since global surface temperature records began in the mid-1800s.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) previously estimated a 50% chance of 2024 breaking the record.
Although June 2024 was exceptionally hot, global daily average temperatures in late June and early July were not as high as last year.
It is possible that July 2024 might be cooler than July 2023, ending the streak of record-breaking months.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo highlights that the 1.5°C threshold above pre-industrial levels (beginning in 1850) is being exceeded more frequently on a monthly basis.
The 1.5°C mark is significant for long-term climate targets, addressing the temporary nature of these breaches.
Despite these temporary exceedances the 1.5°C goal refers to long-term warming trends over at least two decades.
The Paris Agreement was enacted in 2016 which aims to limit the long-term global average surface temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels with efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
The scientific consensus warns that surpassing 1.5°C could lead to severe climate impacts making every fraction of a degree critical.
Also Read: Thompson Fire: Northern California Wildfire Forces 26,000 to Evacuate
WMO underlines that even a 0.1°C increase can escalate the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events and ecological droughts.
Extreme heat has the highest mortality rate among extreme weather events with an estimated 489,000 heat-related deaths per year from 2000 to 2019.
The global average temperature for the past 12 months (July 2023 – June 2024) was 1.64°C above the pre-industrial average.
June 2024 was the hottest June on record with a global temperature 1.50°C above the estimated Hottest June average for 1850-1900.
Most above average in southeast regions and Türkiye. Below average in western Europe, Iceland and northwestern Russia.
Eastern Canada, the western United States, Mexico, Brazil, northern Siberia, the Middle East, northern Africa and western Antarctica experienced temperature increases. Below average temperatures were in the eastern equatorial Pacific,
Wetter than average in Iceland, central and southwestern Europe, causing floods in Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland.
Drier than average in Ireland, the UK, southern Italy and much of Eastern Europe especially around the Black Sea.
North America experienced wetter conditions with severe storms including Hurricane Beryl. Wetter conditions in southwestern and southeastern Asia, southernmost Africa and parts of Australia and South America.
Drier conditions across other regions of North America, Asia and most of South America leading to severe wildfires in northeastern Russia and central South America.
Extent was 12% below average, the second-lowest extent for June in the satellite data record, only behind June 2023’s record low of 16% below average.
Copernicus uses billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations worldwide, reanalyzed with computer simulations.
Other agencies such as NOAA and NASA also provide monthly climate data, but their analyses take longer and cover more extended periods.
Also Read: Google’s Emissions Surge 50% in Five Years Due to AI Energy Demand
.png?itok=kiuEUGM3 "2024 June is the Earth's Hottest June on Record, 13-Month Record Temperature Streak Continues 5")
