Global Temperature Surpasses 1.5 Degrees Celsius above Pre-Industrial Level for 12 Months

The global average temperature for the past 12 months (July 2023-June 2024) is the highest on record, at 0.76 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average and 1.64 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, said a report released by Copernicus.

The report also said that June 2024 was warmer globally than any previous June in the data record, with an average surface air temperature of 16.66 degrees Celsius.

This marks the 13th month in a row as the warmest in the data record for the respective month of the year, the report said.

"This is more than a statistical oddity, and it highlights a large and continuing shift in our climate," said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

"Even if this specific streak of extremes ends at some point, we are bound to see new records being broken as the climate continues to warm," Buontempo said. "Unless we stop adding greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and the oceans."

The Paris Agreement released in 2015 has set temperature targets limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, with efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. The report said that the limits set in the Paris Agreement are targets for the average temperature of the planet over a 20- or 30-year period.

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