Latest indications point to 2024 being the “warmest year on record and the first year of more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”, the Copernicus Climate Change Service stated today (Thursday, November 7).
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said that trends for the first 10 months of 2024 underline that it is “now virtually certain” that this year will break all existing records.
“This marks a new milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst to raise ambition for the upcoming Climate Change Conference, COP29,” she warned.
According to latest analysis by Copernicus the average global temperature “anomaly” for for the period January to October is 0.71°C above the 1991-2020 average, which is the highest on record for this period and 0.16°C warmer than the same period in 2023.
“The average temperature anomaly for the rest of 2024 would have to drop to almost zero for 2024 to not be the warmest year,” the climate change service detailed.
Copernicus
Research shows that October 2024 was the second-warmest October globally, after October 2023 – with an average surface air temperature of 15.25°C, which is 0.80°C above the 1991-2020 average for October.
The average temperature over European land for October 2024 was 10.83°C, 1.23°C above the 1991-2020 average for October, making the month the fifth warmest October on record for Europe.
European temperatures were above average over almost all of the continent. Outside of Europe, temperatures were most above average over northern Canada, and well-above average over the central and western United States, northern Tibet, Japan and Australia.
Rain
October 2024 also saw above-average precipitation (rain) across the Iberian Peninsula, France, northern Italy, Norway, northern Sweden, and east of the Black Sea.
“Heavy precipitation led to severe flash flooding in the region of Valencia, Spain, with over 200 fatalities,” Copernicus detailed.
It also identified that precipitation and soil moisture were “below average” in the majority of eastern Europe, particularly in western Russia, Greece, and western Turkey.
“Wetter-than-average conditions were seen in southern and eastern China, Taiwan, Florida, parts of western Australia, and southernmost Brazil.
“Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene,” Copernicus also highlighted.