The summer of 2024 has been declared the hottest on record by the European Copernicus Climate Office. According to director Carlo Buontempo, this year will also be the hottest year on record, as temperatures this August have matched those of last year, writes euronews.com.
The northern meteorological summer – June, July and August – averages 16,8 degrees Celsius, according to Copernicus. That's 0,03 degrees Celsius warmer than the old record in 2023.
"While some of last year's record heat was driven by El Niño - a temporary natural warming of parts of the central Pacific Ocean that alters global weather - this effect has disappeared and shows that the main driver is long-term climate change caused by man, and in particular from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas", points out Buontempo.
Copernicus' records date back to 1940, but American, British and Japanese records dating back to the mid-120th century show that the last decade was the hottest since regular measurements were taken and possibly in about 000 years, according to some scientists.
“The months of August in 2023 and 2024 are the hottest Augusts globally at 16,82 degrees Celsius. July was the first in more than a year that the world did not set a record, just behind 2023, but because June 2024 was much hotter than June 2023, this summer was the hottest overall," added the director of Copernicus Carlo Buontempo.
Will 2024 be the hottest year yet?
"For 2024 not to be the warmest on record, we need to see a very significant cooling of the landscape over the remaining few months, which doesn't seem likely at this stage," says Buontempo.
With a predicted La Niña -- a temporary natural cooling of parts of the central Pacific Ocean -- the last four months of the year may no longer be the record-breaking ones that most of the past year and a half have been.
"All of this is leading to more unhappiness around the world as places like Phoenix start to feel like a barbeque, closed up on high for longer and longer periods of the year," said University of Michigan Environment and Climatologist Jonathan Overpeck. .
The Arizona city has had more than 100 days with temperatures above 37,8 degrees Celsius this year.
“With longer and more severe heat waves come more severe droughts in some places and more intense rain and flooding in others. Climate change is becoming too obvious and too costly to ignore," he added.
Few places in Europe haven't felt the heatwaves and extreme weather this summer. Heatwaves hit Greece, Turkey and Cyprus back in June, with five tourists dying within a few weeks.
Just a few weeks later, four people died in Italy when temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius. Hot flashes do discriminate, with older women at greatest risk of death.
France also experienced its hottest weekend of the year. Since the deadly heat wave of 2003, France has been one of the better prepared European countries with warning systems in place to protect its citizens.