With August, we now have 13 months exceeding 1.5°C over the last 14 months. From January to the end of August, global warming has reached +1.58°C compared to the pre-industrial period.
In Europe, summer was 1.54 degrees hotter than the average of the last 30 years
Although the effects of El Niño are diminishing, the planet’s average temperature continues to break record after record. Summer 2024 (June-August) was the hottest on record, with a thermal anomaly of +0.69°C compared to the last 30 years (1991-2020). Last year, at the height of El Niño, global warming during the boreal summer had reached +0.66°C.
According to data released by the European satellite monitoring system Copernicus, measurements for Europe alone confirm that the old continent is warming much faster than the rest of the planet. The deviation from the average over the three summer months of the last three decades has reached +1.54°C, well above the previous record of +1.34°C set in 2022.
Global Warming: August Data
August also recorded global warming levels well above the average of recent decades. The surge that began in early 2023—when the planet’s temperature shifted to unprecedented levels and has remained there uninterrupted—has not yet abated.
Globally, August 2024 tied with August 2023 as the hottest on record. Compared to the last three decades, the thermal anomaly was +0.71°C, equivalent to +1.51°C above the pre-industrial era. This marks the 13th month, out of the last 14, to surpass the 1.5-degree threshold. However, this does not mean the Paris Agreement target of keeping global warming below this level has been missed. The 1.5°C overshoot will be considered official when the 30-year average temperature exceeds 1.5°C.
2024 is on track to set a new heat record
With the first 8 months of the year now behind us, it is increasingly likely that 2024 will surpass the unprecedented global warming level reached just last year. The 12-month rolling average (September 2023-August 2024) is the highest of any 12 months in the Copernicus database, at +1.64°C above the pre-industrial era. Meanwhile, from January to the end of August, the calendar year registered +1.58°C (+0.7°C compared to 1991-2020), 0.23°C higher than the same period last year.
In Europe, August 2024 was the second hottest on record, following August 2022, with a thermal anomaly of +1.57°C over the last 30 years. Significant deviations from the average were also recorded for sea surface temperatures, which remained at an exceptionally high 20.91°C, the second-highest value in Copernicus records, just behind August 2023.
“In the last three months of 2024, the world experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day ever recorded, and the hottest boreal summer on record. This series of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood that 2024 will be the hottest year on record,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). “The extreme temperature events we observed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
