June 2024 breaks global temperature records: EU climate monitor

Last month was the hottest June on record across the globe, the European Union's climate monitor said, capping half a year of wild and destructive weather from floods to heatwaves.

Every month since June 2023 has eclipsed its temperature record in a 13-month streak of unprecedented global heat, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Monday.

"This is more than a statistical oddity and it highlights a large and continuing shift in our climate," said the service director, Carlo Buontempo.

"Even if this specific streak of extremes ends at some point, we are bound to see new records being broken as the climate continues to warm," he added.

The global average temperature notched last month broke the previous June record set in 2023.

The fresh high came at the midway point of a year marked by climate extremes.

The scorching heat has blanketed swathes of the world from India to Saudi Arabia, the United States and Mexico in the first half of this year.

Relentless rain, a phenomenon scientists have also linked to a warmer planet, caused extensive flooding in Kenya, China, Brazil, Afghanistan, Russia and France.

Wildfires have torched land in Greece and Canada and last week, Hurricane Beryl became the earliest category five Atlantic hurricane on record as it barrelled across several Caribbean islands.

Warmer oceans

The streak of record-breaking temperatures coincided with El Nino, a natural phenomenon that contributes to hotter weather globally, said Julien Nicolas, a senior scientist at C3S.

"That was part of the factors behind the temperature records, but it was not the only one," he said.

Record sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic, the Northern Pacific and the Indian Ocean also contributed to the soaring heat across the globe.

The oceans cover 70 percent of the Earth's surface and absorb 90 percent of the extra heat associated with rising climate-warming emissions.

"What happens to the ocean surface has an important impact on the air temperature above the surface and global average temperature as well," he said.

However, the world is about to transition into a La Nina phase, which has a cooling effect.

"We can expect the global (air) temperature to taper down in the next few months," said Nicolas.