This year’s northern hemisphere summer saw the highest global temperatures on record, beating last year’s high and making this year likely Earth’s hottest ever recorded, the EU’s climate monitor said yesterday.
The data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service followed a season of heat waves around the world that scientists said were intensified by human-driven climate change.
Extreme weather struck around the globe — with about 1,300 dead during extreme heat at the hajj in Mecca, intense heat testing India’s economy and electricity system, and wildfires raging in parts of the western US.
Photo: EU / Copernicus Sentinel-2 via Reuters
“During the past three months of 2024, the globe has experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record, and the hottest boreal summer on record,” Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a report. “This string of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest year on record.”
The average global temperature at the Earth’s surface was 16.82°C last month, according to Copernicus, which draws on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations.
That saw the global temperature break through the level of 1.5°C above the preindustrial average — a key threshold for limiting the worst effects of climate change.
Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet, raising the likelihood and intensity of climate disasters such as droughts, fires and floods.
Heat was exacerbated last year and early this year by the cyclical weather phenomenon El Nino, although Copernicus scientist Julien Nicolas said its effects were not as strong as they sometimes are.
Meanwhile, the contrary cyclical cooling phenomenon, known as La Nina, has not yet started, he said.
A study published last month estimated that 30,000 to 65,000 people in Europe died from heat-related illnesses last year.
Against the global trend, regions such as Alaska, the eastern US, parts of South America, Pakistan and the Sahel desert zone in northern Africa had lower than average temperatures last month, the report said.
However, other regions such as Australia — where it was winter — Japan and Spain experienced record warmth.
China logged its hottest August in more than six decades last month, its national weather service said, after the nation endured a summer of extreme weather and heat waves across much of its north and west.
China is the leading emitter of greenhouse gases, but with Beijing installing renewable capacity at record speed, and a construction slump dragging down emissions-heavy steel production, there are signs the nation could hit its peak early, experts say.
“The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Burgess said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS