in-cyprus 6 September 2024
The summer of 2024 was the warmest on record for the Earth, the Copernicus Climate Change Service reported on Thursday, with Europe experiencing temperatures 1.54C above the 1991-2020 long-term average.
August marked the 13th month in a 14-month period where global average temperatures exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. The global average temperature in 2024 has been 0.7C higher than the 1991-2020 average, the highest ever recorded.
Copernicus, the EU’s climate service, suggests 2024 is likely to become the warmest year on record globally, surpassing the previous record set in 2023.
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, warned: “Temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense”.
Several European countries broke temperature records this summer. Austria experienced its warmest summer on record, Spain its warmest August, Finland its joint warmest, and Switzerland its second warmest.
While southern and eastern Europe faced intense heat, cooler temperatures prevailed in Ireland, the UK, western Portugal, Iceland, and southern Norway.
Human activities remain the primary driver of rising global temperatures. However, the El Niño climate pattern, observed from June 2023 to May 2024, contributed to the record heat by warming sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific.
Scientists at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology predict the Pacific will enter the cooler La Niña phase in the coming months.
