2024 had the hottest June in history

• The program that collects climate information warned that the situation represents a “significant change” on the planet

Copernicus, the European Union’s climate monitoring service, reported that 2024 had the warmest June on record.

The agency reported that the average surface air temperature was 16.66 ºC. This figure is already 0.67 ºC higher than the average temperature for June, according to records that have been kept since 1990. In addition, it is also 0.14 ºC above the historical maximum for that month, which occurred in 2023.

Photo: Copernicus

This is the 13th consecutive warmest month on record, according to the Bonn-based institution’s monthly bulletin published on Sunday, July 7.

“This is more than a statistical rarity and highlights a significant and ongoing change in our climate,” said Carlo Buontempo, the service’s director.

Maximum temperatures

In Europe, June was the second warmest month on record. Above-average temperatures were most frequently recorded in the south-east of the continent and on the Anatolian peninsula, while in Western Europe, Iceland and north-west Russia, temperatures were close to or below normal.

In other continents, temperatures that were the most above average were recorded in Mexico, Brazil, the western United States, eastern Canada, northern Siberia, the Middle East, northern Africa and western Antarctica.

In contrast, temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific remained below average, a sign that the La Niña weather phenomenon is developing.

Three consecutive months with the highest temperatures recorded

The planet had three consecutive months with the hottest temperatures since records began, according to data provided by Copernicus on September 6, 2023.

EFE/Jorge Zapata

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said August was the hottest month on record and the second hottest of all months, following July, which broke all records.

In addition, 2023 was considered the second warmest year following 2016.

“Climate breakdown has begun. Scientists have long warned of the consequences of our dependence on fossil fuels,” warned the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, in a statement released on September 6, 2023.

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Copernicus observations indicated that monthly sea surface temperatures in August were the highest on record, at 20.98°C.

In August, the previous record temperatures, from March 2016, were exceeded every day.

Another aspect that reflects the dramatic changes in the climate is the reduction of the Arctic ice cap, which remains at a record low level for this time of year, with a monthly value 12% lower than the average.

This is the largest negative anomaly for August since satellite observations began in that area of ​​the planet in the late 1970s.

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