Global average temperatures for June, according to the European Copernicus Meteorological Service

June 2024 was the hottest June on record globally, Announced Monday, July 8The European Copernicus Observatory. This beats the already exceptional record set in June 2023.

After more than a year of continuous monthly records, “The global average temperature over the past 12 months, from July 2023 to June 2024, is the highest on record.”According to Copernicus, i.e. “1.64°C above the pre-industrial average 1850-1900”when human greenhouse gas emissions had not yet warmed the planet.

June 2024 “This marks the 13th consecutive month of record global temperatures and the 12th consecutive month exceeding pre-industrial averages by 1.5°C.” (1850-1900), Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Division (C3S), confirms in a press release.

“This is not a statistical discrepancy, but it illustrates a significant and ongoing change in our climate.”The world adds, at the end of a month marked by intense heat waves in China, India, Mexico, Greece and Saudi Arabia, where more than 1,300 people died while performing the Hajj.

While the temperature was close to or below seasonal norms (1991-2020) in Western Europe, such as France, a large part of humanity experienced temperatures above norms, and even exceptional ones.

Temperatures expected to drop with La Niña phenomenon

The aftermath of June's heat waves forced the evacuation of thousands of people in California after devastating fires, while residents in the Balkans, Pakistan and Egypt suffered power outages that left essential fans, air conditioners or refrigerators inoperable.

“Even if this particular series of extreme measures ends at some point,”With the end of the periodic El Niño phenomenon, which exacerbated the effects of global warming over the past year, “New records will be broken as the climate continues to warm.” Due to human greenhouse gas emissions, the C3S director noted.

With the La Niña phenomenon expected to arrive by the end of this year, “We can expect global temperatures to drop in the coming months.”“It's a very good idea,” Julien Nicolas, a C3S scientist, told AFP.

The global temperature at the end of 2024 will depend largely on the evolution of the ocean heat, which covers 70% of the planet and whose surface water temperature remains significantly higher than all historical records for more than a year.

“If these exceptional temperatures continue, despite the development of a La Niña, 2024 could be warmer than the record 2023, but it is too early to say.”According to Mr. Nicholas.