April 2024 marked a significant milestone in global climate trends, with reports indicating it as the hottest April on record.
This continues an 11-month streak, starting from June 2023, where each month has surpassed previous records, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
The average global temperature over the last 12 months, including April, has risen to unprecedented levels, standing at 1.61 degrees Celsius above the average in the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period. This prolonged trend has raised concerns among scientists, who are investigating whether human activities have triggered a critical tipping point in the climate system.
Julien Nicolas, Senior Climate Scientist at C3S, highlighted the pressing question many scientists are considering: whether there has been a fundamental shift in the climate system. Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels remain the primary driver of climate change. Additionally, the natural El Nino phenomenon has contributed to recent temperature spikes by warming surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
The implications of these temperature rises are already evident, with specific weather extremes in April, such as a deadly heatwave in the Sahel region, being linked to climate change. Hayley Fowler, a climate scientist at Newcastle University, warned that the world is nearing a critical threshold, dangerously close to exceeding the 2015 Paris Agreement's target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
While technically the 1.5C target has not yet been breached, some scientists argue that it is increasingly unlikely to be met. They urge governments to accelerate efforts to reduce CO2 emissions to prevent overshooting this critical threshold. C3S' data, which extends back to 1940, has confirmed that April 2024 was the hottest April since the pre-industrial period, reinforcing the urgency of climate action.