According to climate scientists, countries need to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial period to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Earth's global surface temperature has already increased by around 1.15 degrees Celsius.
April marked another "remarkable" month of record-breaking global air and sea surface temperature averages, according to a new report by the EU's climate monitor published on Wednesday. The extremely warm circumstances occurred despite the continuous weakening of the El Nino weather phenomena, which adds to increasing heat, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, with human-caused climate change compounding the extremes.
Since June of last year, every month has been the warmest on record, according to Copernicus. April 2024 was no exception, with temperatures 1.58 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial average from 1850 to 1900.
"While unusual, a similar streak of monthly global temperature records happened previously in 2015/16," added Copernicus. The average temperature over the previous 12 months has also risen by 1.6C over pre-industrial levels, exceeding the 1.5C target established by the 2015 Paris Agreement to control global warming.
Last month was the second warmest April ever recorded in Europe, as was March and the entire winter period. In recent weeks, searing heat waves have swept over Asia, from India to Vietnam, while southern Brazil has seen fatal floods.
In April, the world was hit by a slew of extreme weather events, including flooding and drought. Heavy rain resulted in flooding over parts of North America, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. While eastern Australia was hit with heavy rains, the bulk of the country experienced drier than normal conditions, as did northern Mexico and around the Caspian Sea.
The UN already in March warned that there was a "high probability" that 2024 would see record temperatures, while 2023 capped off a decade of record heat, pushing the planet "to the brink".