The year 2024 is increasingly likely to become the hottest on record, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
While July 2024 was slightly cooler than July 2023, it still saw extreme heatwaves across Greece, Japan, and Morocco, with temperatures soaring above 48°C and resulting in 21 deaths in just 24 hours. The global average surface temperature for July 2024 was 16.91°C, just 0.04°C below the record set in July 2023.
Significant heat was also experienced in the western U.S., Canada, much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and parts of Antarctica. Europe recorded its second warmest July since 2010. Globally, July 2024 was 1.48°C above the pre-industrial average of 1850-1900, underscoring the ongoing impact of climate change.
This month also saw devastating weather events, including heatwaves in Central Europe and the Mediterranean, unprecedented floods in Pakistan and China, cyclones in the Caribbean, landslides in India, and massive wildfires in California. Additionally, global ocean temperatures remained alarmingly high, with July 2024 marking the second highest sea surface temperature ever recorded at 20.88°C, just below July 2023.
Despite the potential cooling effect of La Niña, experts predict that 2024 is likely to surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record, further highlighting the urgent need to address global warming.
Read more: Copernicus system