July was the second warmest month on record, just behind July 2023

The hottest average temperature ever recorded over a single day on the globe was recorded this year, according to the European Copernicus laboratory.

Since June 2023, each month has broken its global temperature record since records began. With an average global temperature of 16.91°C, July was only 0.04°C cooler than the previous year, the European Copernicus laboratory announced on Thursday, August 8. The data published in the laboratory’s latest monthly report thus bear witness to the end of a worrying 13-month series during which the El Niño phenomenon amplified the effects of global warming caused by human activities.

With average global temperatures exceeding the average for a month of July over the period 1850-1900 by 1.48°C, this 2024 edition also puts an end to a series of 12 consecutive months spent above the 1.5°C limit, a limit that must not be exceeded sustainably by 2100 to remain within the limits of the Paris Agreement.

In Europe, the average temperature was 1.49°C higher than those recorded over the period 1991-2020. “Temperatures were most above average in southern and eastern Europe”Copernicus specifies. Overall, “the western United States, western Canada, most of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and eastern Antarctica” experienced the highest temperatures compared to average.

It should also be noted that, although July 2024 was very slightly less warm than its equivalent in 2023, it was this year that the hottest average temperature ever recorded on a single day on the globe was recorded. Twice in fact: 17.16°C and 17.15°C on July 22 and 23.

Since the 19th century, the Earth’s average temperature has warmed by 1.1°C. Scientists have established with certainty that this increase is due to human activities, consumers of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). This warming, unprecedented in its speed, threatens the future of our societies and biodiversity. But solutions – renewable energies, moderation, reduction of meat consumption – exist. Discover our answers to your questions about the climate crisis.