August 2024 continues a nearly unbroken streak of 15 months where global average temperatures have reached historic highs.
Data that continues to cause concern. The heat records in August are synonymous with a “red alert”, declared the director of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Singapore on Wednesday, September 3.
For the second year in a row, the average global temperature in August reached historic levels, according to preliminary public data from the European Copernicus Observatory, consulted by AFP on Tuesday.
Australia, Japan, several provinces of China and Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located in the Arctic, experienced their hottest August on record, according to various local meteorological organizations.
“The thresholds are constantly exceeded”
For us it is a “red alert. It is clear that temperatures are rising… beyond what we would like,” said Celeste Saulo, director of the WMO, a UN agency, “and that is because action is not enough.”
Although the exact global average temperature for August 2024 is not yet known, Copernicus (…) has established that it will be higher than the record of 16.82°C measured in August last year.
“Thresholds are constantly being exceeded but we must act,” she said at a regional climate forum bringing together local meteorological services in Singapore.
She acknowledged that while “we are certainly worried, we are not paralyzed. That means we need more action.”
The WMO chief also called for better monitoring and support for weather agencies, adding: “We need more resources.”
The forum comes days after the WMO published its latest assessment of climate change impacts in Asia and the Pacific, warning of above-average sea level rise in many regions.
Historic heat
August 2024 thus continues a quasi-uninterrupted series of 15 months where average global temperatures have reached historic highs, synonymous with heatwaves, droughts and storms reinforced by additional evaporation from the oceans.
At the forum, Singapore was designated as a regional monitoring centre for wildfire and smoke pollution. The centre, one of only two in the world, will provide better information on wildfires and pollution forecasts, filling a gap in regional data, officials said.
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