July 2024 marked the second-hottest July in history. It also ended the 13-month streak of global heat records, as every month from June 2023 to June 2024, new temperature records were set, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) stated on Wednesday.
The global average temperature in July 2024 was 16.91 degrees Celsius, just 0.04 degrees below the record set in July 2023. According to Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of C3S, this slight difference indicates that “the overall context hasn’t changed.”
The C3S also noted Thursday that 2024 is still increasingly likely to be the warmest year on record. Global temperatures in 2024 were 0.7 degrees above the 1991-2020 average. This year is unlikely to be cooler than 2023 without a significant temperature drop in the coming months.
Notably, the world registered two consecutive hottest days on record last month: July 21 and 22. On July 25, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for global action to tackle extreme heat, claiming the Earth is becoming “hotter and more dangerous”, Xinhua news agency reported.
The impacts of extreme heat continue after the record-breaking days. South Korea’s heat-related deaths rose to 14 on Tuesday. In Japan, a record-breaking 3,647 individuals were hospitalized due to heatstroke in July. The DAK-Gesundheit heat report released on Monday in Germany showed that one in four people in Germany, especially the elderly, has experienced health problems due to extreme heat this year.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) stressed that the record-breaking temperatures are not isolated incidents but are linked to climate change and more frequent and intense heatwaves, wildfires and other extreme weather events.
In the United States, the Park Fire in northern California in early August was the fourth-largest wildfire in the state’s history, resulting in 4,000 people being evacuated.
In Southern and Eastern Europe, continuous heatwaves have resulted in surging electricity demand and frequent power outages. The overload of air conditioning units and cold water has put unprecedented pressure on electricity and water infrastructures.
C3S senior climate scientist Julien Nicholas urges the world to tackle the main driving force of global warming: greenhouse gases.
“There’s been a lot of attention given to this 13-month streak of global records,” said Nicolas. “But the consequences of climate change have been seen for many years … And they won’t end because this streak of records is ending.”