2024 officially named the hottest year in history: the summer broke all possible heat records

Scientists have officially confirmed that 2024 has become the hottest year in history. And the summer broke global heat records for the second year in a row.

According to data released by European climate change service Copernicus, the period between June and August was the hottest period in the world since records began in 1940. Specifically, this summer was 0.69 degrees Celsius hotter than the average from 1991 to 2020, surpassing the previous record set last summer by 0.03 degrees, CNN writes.

Researchers said ultra-high summer temperatures were recorded around the world this year, causing deadly heatwaves, record wildfires and devastating storms.

Australia broke its national record on the hottest day of August, recording a temperature of 41.6 degrees Celsius (106.9 Fahrenheit). Meanwhile, temperatures in parts of Antarctica rose well above normal in July.

First, Copernicus data confirmed that June and July broke heat records. Next, August also became the hottest August on record. With an average temperature of 16.82 degrees Celsius, it was 1.51 degrees warmer than the average August in the pre-industrial era. That is, before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels.

Official Copernicus figures show that the 12 months from September 2023 to August 2024 were the hottest in any annual period and 1.64 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels.

According to Richard Allan, professor of climatology at the University of Reading, UK, it is "extremely worrying" that temperatures have exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.5 degrees Celsius in the past 12 months. However, this is "inevitable given the slow pace of action by governments" to reduce the planet's warming pollution, the scientist emphasized.

Scientists have long warned that the world must limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

"The temperature extremes experienced this summer will become even more intense and have more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess.

Experts warn that this is the extreme of a series of global heat records, but not the last. After all, humans continue to download fossil fuels, heating the planet and raising global temperatures.

Earlier OBOZ.UA wrote that July 2024 set new records for global heat and climate disasters.

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