The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Monitoring Service (C3S) has reported that last month was the hottest June on record. It continued a series of exceptional temperatures that, according to some scientists, could lead to 2024 being the hottest year in the world on record.
This is reported by Euractiv.
The Service also noted that each month since June 2023 – 13 months in a row – has been the hottest on the planet since the start of observations, compared to the corresponding month of previous years.
Some scientists predict that 2024 could surpass 2023 as the hottest year since records began. After all, human-caused climate change and the natural weather phenomenon of El Niño have raised temperatures to record levels for the entire year.
"I estimate that there is about a 95% chance that 2024 will surpass 2023 as the warmest year since global surface temperature observations began in the mid-1800s," said Zeke Hausfather, a research fellow at the US nonprofit Berkeley Earth.
Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, agrees.
C3S reports that in the 12 months ending in June, the global average temperature was the highest on record, 1.64°C above the pre-industrial average.
Climate change has already led to catastrophic consequences around the world in 2024. For example, last month during the Hajj pilgrimage, more than 1,000 people died due to extreme heat. Deaths were recorded in New Delhi, which experienced an unprecedentedly long heatwave, and among tourists in Greece.
Scientists call the main cause of climate change emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels. Despite promises to curb global warming, countries have so far failed to collectively reduce these emissions, resulting in persistently higher temperatures for decades.
Before, EcoPolitic reported that 80% of people in the world want from governments to act more decisively in the fight against climate change.
