(CN) — The planet has gone through the hottest 11 months ever recorded after a record-breaking April, the European Union's climate agency said Wednesday.
In April, the global surface air temperature was 0.67 degrees Celsius (1.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than average, making it the warmest April on record globally, the Copernicus Climate Service said in its latest report.
Last month was 0.14 C (0.25 F) warmer than the previous April record set in 2016 when the planet was experiencing a similarly warm period.
This extraordinary warm stretch made 2023 the hottest year on record and it is raising alarm over the effects of climate change. Besides heat waves, many regions around the planet have suffered flooding, drought, storms and wildfires.
Scientists say the record heat is linked in large part to the development of a moderately strong El Niño weather pattern in June 2023. El Niños are associated with warmer temperatures and more unpredictable and violent weather. However, scientists say the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is driving the record-breaking temperatures.
“Whilst temperature variations associated with natural cycles like El Niño come and go, the extra energy trapped into the ocean and the atmosphere by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases will keep pushing the global temperature towards new records,” said Carlo Buontempo, the Copernicus director.
The El Niño cycle continued to weaken in April toward neutral conditions, but marine air temperatures have remained unusually high, scientists noted in the report.
Compared to average temperatures prior to the industrial age and the advent of burning massive amounts of fossil fuels, this April was 1.58 C (2.64 F) warmer, Copernicus said. It recorded the average global temperature in April at 15.03 C (59.05 F).
Over the past 12 months, the planet was 0.73 C (1.31 F) warmer than the average temperature since 1991, a period Copernicus uses as a baseline for calculating averages in the industrial age. This makes the past year the warmest stretch ever recorded, the agency added.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
Follow @cainburdeau
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