Since last June, Earth has broken heat records every single month. That’s 10 months in-a-row setting an all-time monthly temperature record for the planet.
April 2024 is on track to extend this streak to 11 record months in a row. 2024 is has a real chance the warmest year on record. NOAA says it’s virtually certain to be at least one of top five warmest.
Temperatures for each month from 1940 to 2024 from Copernicus/ECMWF ERA5. Anomalies plotted with respect to a 1850-1900 baseline. Chart by Carbon Brief.
On March 19, the United Nation’s World Meteorological Organization released its State of the Global Climate 2023 report where Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said it’s “sounding the Red Alert to the world.”
“Never have we been so close – albeit on a temporary basis at the moment – to the 1.5° C lower limit of the Paris Agreement on climate change,” Saulo said.
The planet has now experienced 12 months with average monthly temperatures 1.58 degrees Celsius (2.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above the Paris threshold, according to Copernicus data.
With only 1.58º C, we’ve already seen extreme floods, droughts, heatwaves and wildfires all over the world.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world set a goal to keep warming at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. Copernicus’ temperature data is monthly and uses a slightly different measurement system than the Paris threshold, which is averaged over two or three decades.
The CAC is committed to the climate conversation. We do this with events like the Climate Champions Awards Ceremony, Hurricane Season Forecast Day and the upcoming Annual Climate Conference in November, that will focus on human health. We also give climate presentations, focused on adaptation strategies, to thousands of people throughout the year. You can support us in helping our conversation going by making a donation or becoming a member.