Record-breaking heat expected in the coming year

The relentless heat that gripped the planet last summer shows no signs of easing in 2024, as last month was the hottest June ever recorded, the European Union climate monitor announced on Monday.

According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), every month since June 2023 has set new temperature records in a 13-month streak of historic global heat, scientists suggest that 2024 is on track to become the hottest year ever.

"This is more than a statistical oddity; it highlights a large and continuing shift in our climate," said Carlo Buontempo, the service director. "Even if this specific streak of extremes ends at some point, we are bound to see new records as the climate continues to warm."

Scorching temperatures in 2023 fueled an onslaught of heat waves, floods, and wildfires worldwide, devastating communities, infrastructure, and economies on a global scale. This resulted in $28 billion in climate disasters in the United States alone.

Last month's sizzling temperatures have already unleashed disastrous consequences worldwide, from India and Saudi Arabia to the U.S. and Mexico. Relentless rain, another phenomenon scientists attribute to a warmer planet, has led to severe flooding in Kenya, China, Brazil, Afghanistan, Russia, and France. Meanwhile, wildfires have scorched vast areas in Greece and Canada.

The main driver of all this warmth is no mystery to scientists. Fossil fuel burning, deforestation, and other human activities have driven the mercury steadily upward for more than a century.

According to calculations by the C3S and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2023 was 1.48 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial period from 1850 to 1900, dangerously close to the 1.5°C threshold agreed upon in the 2015 Paris Climate Accords, with 2.0°C not to be crossed.

Despite pledges to curb global warming, countries have fallen short of reducing emissions, pushing temperatures steadily higher for decades. While the world has not yet breached that target, the C3S said that temperatures exceeding the level on nearly half of the days in 2023 set "a dire precedent."

The need for collective action has never been greater, as surpassing this limit threatens humanity with an increased frequency of storms, droughts, extreme heat, and flooding beyond what we can safely manage.