Second hottest July breaks 13-month record streak, EU scientists say

By Julia Payne and Alison Withers

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Last month was the second hottest July for the planet on record, breaking a 13-month period when each month was warmest, which had been in part fuelled by the warming El Nino weather pattern, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday.

The month was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial reference of 1850-1990, Copernicus said in a monthly report, while the last 12 months were 1.64 C above the pre-industrial average due to climate change.

July also recorded the two hottest days on record.

Copernicus attributes the high temperatures largely to greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-based industries and noted that oceans not normally impacted by El Nino saw an unusual rise in temperatures.

"This El Nino has ended but this magnitude of global temperature rises, the big picture is quite similar to where we were a year ago," Julien Nicolas, a climate researcher with Copernicus, told Reuters.

"We are not done with temperature records causing heatwaves ... We know this long-term warming trend can be with a very high level of confidence related to the human impact on climate."

Above-average temperatures were recorded in southern and eastern Europe, the western United States, western Canada, most of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and eastern Antarctica.

Near or below-average temperatures were seen in northwestern Europe, western Antarctica, parts of the United States, South America and Australia.

July 2024 was also wetter than average in northern Europe and southeastern Turkey while drought warnings persisted in southern and eastern Europe.

Arctic sea ice was down more than in 2022 and 2023 at 7% below average though not as severe as the record 14% drop in 2020. Antarctic sea ice was the second lowest extent for July at 11% below average compared with 15% below in July last year.

Global sea temperatures remain at near record highs with this July only 0.1 C below July last year, ending a 15-month consecutive new record streak.

"What we saw was surprising in terms of how much warmer it has been. That raises the question of what is happening to the ocean outside this natural climate pattern like El Nino or La Nina events. Are there shifts in the ocean currents?" Nicolas said.

(Reporting by Julia Payne and Alison Withers; Editing by Aurora Ellis)