Scorching summer of 2024 could make it the hottest year on record

Undeniably, this summer has left a searing imprint on us – not only have we endured the intense heat of 2024 but we have also grappled with the alarming reality of global warming.

Look at it this way – from June to August, we sweated under an average temperature of 16.8 degrees Celsius (62.24 degrees Fahrenheit), surpassing 2023’s record by 0.03 degrees Celsius (0.05 degrees Fahrenheit). It’s enough to send 2023 tumbling from its dubious pedestal of “hottest summer.”

August madness: Déjà vu, all over again

This year’s August was a familiar foe – tying with last year’s August as the hottest ever. Although July had mercifully been slightly cooler, June was relentless, outshining its previous year’s counterpart to secure the ominous “hottest summer” title for 2024.

July was the first time in more than a year that the world did not set a record, a tad behind 2023, but because June 2024 was so much hotter than June 2023, this summer as a whole was the hottest, explained Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo.

“What those sober numbers indicate is how the climate crisis is tightening its grip on us,” said Stefan Rahmstorf, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research, who wasn’t involved in this study. It’s a chilling tale of the climate crisis gradually tightening its grip on our lives.

Humidity in the summer of 2024

Ever noticed how high temperatures seem to usher in higher humidity levels? This summer, we potentially set another unwanted record for air humidity levels.

Buontempo was initially unsure whether 2024 would smash the hottest year record set last year – mostly because August 2023 was so much hotter than average. But now that August 2024 has matched 2023, Buontempo is “pretty certain” that this year will snatch the “hottest year” title.

Alarming forward projections

How do we put a stop to 2024’s record-breaking summer spree? It would take an unexpected and drastic cooling spell in the upcoming months, which, according to Buontempo, is highly improbable.

“In order for 2024 not to become the warmest on record, we need to see very significant landscape cooling for the remaining few months, which doesn’t look likely at this stage,” Buontempo said.

Even the anticipated respite of the natural cooling event of La Niña may not suffice to deter 2024 from a sweep of the “hottest year” title.

Summer 2024: Beyond the numbers

“This all translates to more misery around the world as places like Phoenix start to feel like a barbecue locked on high for longer and longer stretches of the year,” said climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck of the University of Michigan. The Arizona city has had more than 100 days of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) weather this year.

“With longer and more severe heat waves come more severe droughts in some places, and more intense rains and flooding in others. Climate change is becoming too obvious, and too costly, to ignore.”

Battlefield of extreme weather

The continuous barrage of extreme weather we’re facing gives us the eerie feeling of being in a war zone, according to Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center.

She urges us to recognize the incessant cacophony of heatwaves, floods, wildfires, and high winds as not mere weather quirks, but dire warnings.

“Like people living in a war zone with the constant thumping of bombs and clatter of guns, we are becoming deaf to what should be alarm bells and air-raid sirens,” Francis said.

Under the climate hammer

As the effects of El Niño recede, a harsher reality emerges – we are facing what mainly stems from long-term human-induced climate change.

Our actions, particularly the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas, have led us here. Buontempo warns that we are likely to experience more heatwaves and temperature extremes.

Scorching summer of 2024

Despite a relatively mild summer in the UK, the global scenario has been far from forgiving. This year, the first eight months alone have recorded a global-average temperature anomaly 0.70°C above the 1991-2020 average.

Unless we witness an unprecedented plunge of at least 0.30°C in the average anomaly for the rest of the year, 2024 could outdo 2023, a prospect unheard of in the ERA5 dataset.

Sweltering epidemic of heatwaves

Multiple countries spanning the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia have sweltered under the year’s record-breaking heat, resulting in drastic water shortages and loss of lives, particularly in Mexico and Central America.

It’s about time we actively heed these warnings. Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of CS3, asserts that we need urgent action to curtail greenhouse gas emissions or brace ourselves for more extreme temperature-related events and their catastrophic aftermaths. Isn’t it time we turned the heat down a notch?

This was a comprehensive rundown of 2024, our planet’s most sweltering summer to date. This isn’t to institute fear, but to inspire change. Let’s take this as a not-so-gentle nudge to do our part in salvaging our planet. After all, every little effort counts.

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