The average temperature for the year up to June 2024 is 1.64°C higher than the period from 1850 to 1900.
 "Global average temperature will exceed the 1.5°C target for most of the year")
Image: BloombergBloomberg
Aaron Clarke
Global average temperatures have reached or exceeded key climate thresholds for 12 consecutive months, highlighting the challenge of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
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The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said in a report released on Monday that the average temperature for the year to June 2024 will be 1.64 degrees Celsius warmer than the period from 1850 to 1900. Last month was the hottest June on record, marking the 13th consecutive year that a new monthly average temperature record has been set.
“This is not just a statistical anomaly, but highlights how our climate continues to change dramatically,” the agency’s director, Carlo Buontempo, said in a statement. “Even if this particular extreme event eventually ends, we will inevitably see new records unless countries stop emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and oceans.”
Last month, more than 1,300 Hajj pilgrims died when temperatures hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit in Saudi Arabia. Firefighters battled dozens of blazes in Greece and European capitals were hit by sweltering heat. Already this year, extreme heat has wreaked havoc on many sectors of the global economy, disrupting everything from air traffic to power grids.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages, and ideally to 1.5 degrees Celsius. These averages are calculated over a 20- or 30-year period, rather than a 12-month period, according to the EU Climate Change Service.
