The sweltering heat of the northern hemisphere summer of 2024 has put August in the record books as the hottest August on record, according to the latest climate data from Copernicus.
In the August report, Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said that during the last three months of 2024, the planet “experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record and the hottest boreal summer on record”.
With an average surface air temperature of 16.82°C, August this year was 0.71°C above the 1991-2020 average, tying the record previously set in August 2023.
The unrelenting heat has put 2024 on track to potentially become the hottest year on record.
Burgess warns that the extreme temperature events witnessed this summer in the northern hemisphere are likely to intensify, bringing increasingly devastating consequences for people and the planet, unless significant action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This year’s heat was not only record-breaking, but also widespread, affecting vast regions globally.
Europe, for example, recorded its second-hottest August on record, with temperatures rising 1.57°C above the 1991-2020 average. The heat was particularly oppressive in southern and eastern Europe.
Extraordinary heat was also observed in East Antarctica, Texas, Mexico, Canada, Northeast Africa, Iran, China, Japan and Australia, all recording temperatures well above average.
These conditions contrasted with below-average conditions in far eastern Russia, Alaska, the eastern United States, parts of southern South America, Pakistan and the Sahel.
The oceans also echoed this warming trend, with August sea surface temperatures reaching the second highest on record, 20.91°C, in the 60°S–60°N belt.
These rising ocean temperatures could lead to further climate disruptions, including more intense storms and significant impacts on marine ecosystems.
(Produced by Gerardo Gomez)
This content was originally published in 2024 records the hottest August in history, says report on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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