- | 5:43 pm
2024 set to become hottest year on record, EU data shows
EU climate monitoring body's forecast comes a week ahead of the UN's COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan
2024 is on its way to becoming the hottest year yet, the European Union’s climate monitoring body said on Thursday, a week ahead of the UN’s COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.
This year will also be the first to exceed the target set at the Paris climate conference in 2015. The temperature this year may exceed 1.55 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial revolution level, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said in a note.
The Paris accord sought to pare carbon dioxide emissions with the aim of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“This marks a new milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst to raise ambition for the upcoming Climate Change Conference, COP29,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director at Copernicus, said.
October was 1.65 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial revolution levels, and the 15th month in 16 when temperatures exceeded that threshold, Copernicus.
Across Europe, average land temperature in October reached 10.83 degrees Celsius, which is 1.23 degrees Celsius above the long-term October average, according to the report.
This made it the fifth-warmest October on record for Europe.
Northern Canada, the central and western US, northern Tibet, Japan, and Australia also recorded well-above-average temperatures, while central Greenland and Iceland experienced cooler-than-average conditions.
October’s average sea surface temperature reached 20.68 degrees Celsius, making it the second-highest on record for the month, just 0.10 degrees Celsius below October 2023’s levels, according to the report.
October also saw above-average rainfall across the Iberian Peninsula, France, northern Italy, Norway, northern Sweden, and east of the Black Sea, contributing to flash flooding in Valencia, Spain, that claimed more than 200 lives.
In contrast, drier-than-average conditions prevailed in parts of eastern Europe, including western Russia, Greece, and western Turkey.
The month was also wetter than average in parts of southern and eastern China, Taiwan, and Florida, U.S., where back-to-back hurricanes Milton and Helene made landfall.
The US, central Australia, most of southern Africa, and parts of Argentina and Chile recorded below-average rainfall.
More Top Stories:
