According to new data released on Wednesday, the world experienced the warmest April ever, with record heat, rain, and flooding affecting normal life in many countries.
It was also the eleventh consecutive month of record-high temperatures, resulting from the combined effect of human-caused climate change and weakening El Nino, as the European Union's climate agency Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported.
The average temperature of 15.03 degrees Celsius in April was 1.58 degrees Celsius higher than the designated pre-industrial reference period average for the month of 1850-1900.
It was also 0.67 degrees Celsius above April's average temperature from 1991-2020 and 0.14 degrees Celsius higher than the previous high set in April 2016.
"El Nino peaked at the beginning of the year, and the sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific are now going back towards neutral conditions. However, while temperature variations associated with natural cycles like El Nino come and go, the extra energy trapped in the ocean and the atmosphere by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases will keep pushing the global temperature towards new records," Carlo Buontempo, Director of C3S, said.
The Climate Agency has reported that the global average temperature has reached the highest recorded level in the last 12 months (from May 2023 to April 2024). It is 0.73 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature between 1991 and 2020 and 1.61 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial average between 1850 and 1900.
Additionally, the global average temperature exceeded the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold for the first time in January, as per C3S.
According to climate scientists, countries need to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial period to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Earth's global surface temperature has already increased by around 1.15 degrees Celsius compared to the average in 1850-1900 due to the rapidly increasing concentration of greenhouse gases -- primarily carbon dioxide and methane -- in the atmosphere.
This warming is considered the reason behind record droughts, wildfires, and floods worldwide.
A brutal heat wave in Asia prompted the temporary closure of schools in the Philippines and broke temperature records in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar. The month also saw the heaviest rain in the UAE in 75 years. India is in the middle of a 44-day general election.
While El Nino conditions are associated with weaker monsoon winds and drier conditions in India, La Nina conditions—the antithesis of El Nino—lead to plentiful rainfall during the monsoon season.
In a mid-April update, the IMD said India would experience above-normal cumulative rainfall in the 2024 monsoon season, with La Nina conditions being the dominant factor.
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