The effect of climate change is being seen on the whole world. Some areas are reeling under intense heat waves while rain is wreaking havoc in some places. The temperature has broken all records. This summer, it has crossed 50 degrees in India so far. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) climate agency Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said that millions of people in five continents had to face scorching heat last month. It also confirmed that June was the hottest month ever on record.
The world is on the verge of crossing the 1.5 degree Celsius limit set by experts to avert a large-scale climate change crisis. June is the 12th consecutive month of reaching close to this set limit. According to C3S scientists, every month since June last year has been the hottest month on record.
It is worth noting that the rising temperature in January this year was 1.66 degrees Celsius higher than before the industrial period (1850 to 1900), which makes it the hottest January ever.The Copernicus Climate Change Service is a part of the European Union’s Earth Observation Program. During January 2024, the average global temperature of air near the surface was recorded at 13.14 degrees Celsius, which is about 0.7 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature recorded in January between 1991 and 2020.
This limit was set in 2015
Under the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, a target was set to not let the global average temperature rise more than two degrees Celsius and it was said that it would not be allowed to cross 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, this target seems to be crossed due to rising carbon emissions and global temperatures.
Scientists said that if a large population of people is to be saved from huge losses, then the appropriate limit should be set at one degree Celsius or below. However, it should also be noted that the earth’s temperature has already increased by 1.2 degrees Celsius compared to 150 years ago.
Last 12 months were the hottest
According to the new data, June 2024 was the hottest month ever, with an average surface temperature of 16.66 degrees Celsius, which is 0.67 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature of 1991-2020 and 0.14 degrees Celsius higher than the previous highest temperature recorded in June 2023. The European Climate Agency said the global average temperature for the last 12 months (July 2023-June 2024) is the highest on record, 0.76 degrees Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 average and 1.64 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial average of 1850-1900. The world’s sea surface in June was also the highest ever recorded for this month.
Many countries faced record-breaking heat, devastating floods and storms in June. According to an analysis by Climate Central, more than 60 percent of the world’s population faced extreme heat during June 16-24, which was at least three times more likely to be caused by climate change.