Global temperature streak continues with record hot April

The world has experienced the hottest April on record, with air and sea surface temperatures remaining more than 1.5°C higher than the pre-industrial period, a report by the EU's climate monitor on Wednesday warned.

A vehicle of the Dhaka North City Corporation sprays water along a busy road to lower the temperature amidst a heatwave in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 27 April, 2024. AFP - MUNIR UZ ZAMAN

The surface air temperature averaged 15.03 Celsius – surpassing the April average calculated between 1991 and 2020 by 0.67 degrees.

The April milestone is part of a concerning trend, making the past 12 months the warmest on record.

The monthly temperature record has now been beaten for 11 consecutive months.

The average temperature over the last year was recorded at 1.6C above pre-industrial levels, exceeding the 1.5C limit set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.

"While unusual, a similar streak of monthly global temperature records happened previously in 2015/16," Copernicus said.

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'Remarkable'

The anomaly does not mean the Paris target has been missed, which is calculated over a period of decades.

But it does signal "how remarkable the global temperature conditions we are currently experience are", Copernicus climatologist Julien Nicolas told AFP.

"Each additional degree of global warming is accompanied by extreme weather events, which are both more intense and more likely," Nicolas said.

The warm conditions came despite the continued weakening of the El Nino weather pattern that contributes to increased heat, said the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

It pointing to human-caused climate change for exacerbating the extremes.