The world went through its warmest May in 2024 with the global average surface temperature being 0.65°C above the 1991–2020 average, the European Commission-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has said.
May was the twelfth month marking the 12th consecutive month when the global average temperature hit a record value for the corresponding month, it said. The temperature was 0.19°C above the previous high set in May 2020. “An unusual and similar streak of monthly global temperature records happened previously in 2015-2016,” C3S said.
According to C3S data, the global average temperature for May 2024 was 1.52°C above the 1850–1900 pre-industrial average, marking the 11th consecutive month (since July 2023) at or above 1.5°C. May 2024 was warmer globally than any previous May in the data record, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 15.91°C, 0.65°C above the 1991-2020 average for May.
Data revealed that the global average temperature for the last 12 months (June 2023 – May 2024) is the highest on record, at 0.75°C above the 1991–2020 average and 1.63°C above the 1850–1900 pre-industrial average.
Breaking records as never before
Samantha Burgess, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said: “The climate continues to alarm us - the last 12 months have broken records like never before - caused primarily by our greenhouse gas emissions and an added boost from the El Niño event in the tropical Pacific.”
Until net-zero global emissions are reached, the climate will continue to warm and break records. It will continue to produce even more extreme weather events, she said. “If we choose to continue to add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere then 2023-24 will soon look like a cool year, in a similar way to how 2015-16 now appears,” said Burgess.
C3S said temperatures were below average over the eastern equatorial Pacific, indicating a developing La Niña, but air temperatures over the ocean remained at an unusually high level over many regions last month. In May, the sea surface temperature (SST) was 20.93°C, the highest value on record for the month. It was the fourteenth month in a row that the SST was the warmest for the respective month of the year. C3S said drier-than-average conditions were seen across Asia in May.
Indian woes
India has undergone a tough time due to higher global temperatures over the past 12 months. The higher temperature is attributed to the warm water phenomenon El Nino, which emerged in June 2023. India experienced deficient south-west and north-east monsoons, besides receiving below-normal rainfall during winter and pre-monsoon periods.
At least a quarter of the country was affected by drought due to this. However, things could change this year with La Nina, which results in rains and floods, predicted to set in around July-August.