Monthly bulletin issued by the Copernicus Service this Thursday Climate change The C3S for May lists observed changes in global surface air and sea temperatures, sea ice cover and hydrological variables in Europe and other regions of the planet. Furthermore, the European Monitoring Service climate It also focuses on the northern spring (March-April-May).
“Most of the reported results are based on the ERA5 database, [usada pelo Copérnico, que contém informação relativa aos padrões climáticos e de temperatura das últimas oito décadas]“Using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world,” the statement explains with information collected around May 2024, the hottest month on record worldwide, with the global average temperature from air to surface 0.65°C above average for 1991-2020.
The average global temperature for May 2024 was 1.52°C higher than the pre-industrial average of 1850-1900, marking the 11th consecutive month (since July 2023) that the temperature has warmed. Equal to or greater than 1.5 degrees Celsiusalso mentions a remark by Copernicus.
So the month of May, according to that Copernican service, the European Earth Observing Programme, The twelfth month in a row that the global average temperature has reached a record high For the corresponding month. In other words, we’ve been breaking serious records for a year now. Below are key data from the May monthly bulletin.
Samantha Burgess, Director of C3S, sums up the worrying data recorded: “The climate continues to worry us – the last 12 months have broken unprecedented records – mainly because of our CO2 emissions. Global Warming An additional motivation for this phenomenon El Nino In the tropical Pacific Ocean. Until we reach net zero global emissions, the climate will continue to warm, continue to break records, and continue to produce more extreme weather events. If we choose to continue adding Greenhouse gases As for the weather, the year 2023/4 will soon seem like a cold year, similar to what is happening now with 2015/6.”
Surface air temperature and sea surface temperature
May 2024 was generally warmer than any previous May in data record, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 15.91°C, or 0.65 Celsius Higher than the 1991-2020 average for May and 0.19 Celsius Higher than the previous maximum set in May 2020.
This is the 12th consecutive hottest month in the ERA5 data record for the relevant month of the year. Although unusual, a similar series of monthly global temperature records had previously occurred in 2015/16.
The month was 1.52 grades Celsius Higher than the May average estimated for 1850-1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period.
The average global temperature over the past 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 pre-2020 industrial average. From 1850 to 1900.
The European average temperature for May 2024 was 0.88°C higher than the 1991-2020 average for May, making it the third hottest May on record on the continent.
Temperatures were below average in the eastern tropical Pacific, indicating a No Nina developing, but air temperatures over the ocean remained at an unusually high level in many regions.
The average sea surface temperature for May 2024 between the coordinates 60°S and 60°N was 20.93°C, the highest value recorded for the month. This is the 14th consecutive month in which the SST has been the hottest in the ERA5 data record for the respective month of the year.
C3S/ECMWF
Hydrological parameters
May 2024 was wetter than average across most of Iceland, the UK, Ireland, central and most of south-eastern Europe, northern Iberia and western Russia. Heavy rains caused widespread flooding and associated damage in Germany, the Benelux countries and Italy, among other areas.
Much of the Iberian PeninsulaSouthwest Turkey and a wide area of eastern Europe, including southern Fennoscandia and the Baltics, were drier than average.
May 2024 was wetter than average in parts of the United States and Canada. In southwest Asia, Afghanistan witnessed exceptional rainfall and floods. The typhoons affected Japan, northern Philippines and southern China. Other wetter than average regions include parts of Australia and southeastern Africa. Southern Brazil recorded heavy rains that exacerbated dangerous floods in April.
Northern Mexico and areas of the USA and Canada, where wildfires have been recorded, as well as across Asia, much of Australia, southern Africa and South America, experienced drier than average conditions.
Highlights of sea ice
The extent of sea ice in North Pole It was slightly below average, as was the case in May 2022 and 2023.
The extent of Antarctic sea ice was 8% below average, the sixth lowest extent for May in the satellite data record, and significantly smaller than the record -17% extent recorded in May 2023.
C3S/ECMWF
Spring 2024 seasonal highlights
The average global temperature from March to May 2024 reached a record high of 0.68 Celsius Higher than the 1991-2020 average for these three months.
The European average temperature for spring (March-May) 2024 was the highest on record for the season, 1.50 Celsius Warmer than the 1991-2020 season average and 0.36°C warmer than the previous warmest European spring in 2014.
Spring 2024 was wetter than average across much of western Europe, Italy, far-western Russia and parts of the southern Caucasus, as well as parts of the Iberian Peninsula and southern Fennoscandia. [região que integra península Escandinava, a península de Cola, a região da Carélia e Finlândia]. Monsoon rainfall records were recorded in parts of France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland.
On the other hand, the month was drier than average in northern Scandinavia, most of eastern Europe and eastern Spain.
In addition to Europe, the period from March to May 2024 was wetter than average in parts of North America, the Arabian Peninsula, parts of southwest and central Asia, Japan, and eastern China. The austral autumn was wetter than average across most of Australia, eastern southern Africa and southern Brazil.
Drier than average areas include the southwest and parts of the interior of the United States and Canada, the western Caspian Sea, Central Asia and extreme southern China, areas of Australia, most of South America, and southern Africa.
