The world has just experienced its hottest April on record

 

The world has just experienced its hottest April on record, according to data from Copernicus, the European Union's climate monitoring service. This marks 11 consecutive months of unprecedented global temperatures, with scientists warning that 2024 could beat 2023 as the warmest year on record.

The impacts of this extraordinary heat have been stark, with swaths of Asia grappling with deadly temperatures. Schools were closed for millions of children in Bangladesh, rice fields shriveled in Vietnam, and people in India battled 110-degree Fahrenheit temperatures to vote in recent elections.

Global ocean heat in April was also record-breaking for the 13th consecutive month, with ocean surface temperatures reaching 21.04 degrees, the highest on record for any April. This has had a devastating impact on marine systems, with a mass coral bleaching event occurring this spring, which scientists said could be the worst on record.

The driving force behind this unprecedented global heat is the long-term trend of global warming, mainly caused by humans burning fossil fuels, boosted by El Niño, a natural climate pattern that tends to have a warming impact. While El Niño is now weakening, the world is still seeing unprecedented heat, with scientists estimating a 66% chance that 2024 will be the hottest year on record.

The current heat is not surprising, given the long-term trend of global warming, but the margins at which records are being broken are smaller than they were in 2023. Scientists are warning that even if global temperatures fall out of record territory in the next few months, the world is still on track for warming of close to 3 degrees, which would bring catastrophic consequences.

Countries have agreed to restrict global heating to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, but temporary breaches like the current heatwave are a clear and alarming signal of accelerating climate change. The world needs to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.

In the meantime, people around the world are struggling to cope with the heat. From closed schools to shriveled crops, the impacts are being felt far and wide. As one scientist said, "increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases will keep pushing the global temperature towards new records." It's time for action, not just words.