EU researchers: Twelve consecutive months of record high global temperatures

– It's shocking, but not surprising, that we've come to this series spanning over twelve months. Even if that line is eventually broken, climate change will continue, and there is no sign that the trend will reverse, says Carlo Bontempo, who heads the European Union's C3S climate monitoring service.

Average temperatures on Earth in May were 0.65 degrees higher than the average temperature for May in the years 1991-2020, according to the researchers' calculations. This is the twelfth month in a row in which the temperature corresponding to its respective month has been recorded.

“This series of warmer months will be remembered as relatively cold, but if we can stabilize the presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in the near future, we may be able to return to these ‘cool’ temperatures by the end of the century,” says Bontempo.

– unique

A record twelve-month rise in global temperatures has been confirmed, with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UK's Met Institute publishing their forecasts for the coming years.

In the World Meteorological Organization's report, which looks at the years 2024-2028, it appears likely that at least one of the next five years will be the warmest on record – beating 2023.

“We live in unprecedented times, but we also have an unprecedented opportunity to monitor the climate, and this can help provide an information basis for our actions,” says Bontempo.

In addition to gradual global warming, the El Niño climate phenomenon may have contributed to higher temperatures last year. However, El Niño ended in April, according to Australian experts.

Some researchers Believes Reductions in refrigeration ship pollution gave temperatures an extra boost by “unmasking” core heating. But it is not clear how strong this effect is.

Calls for quick action

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on the world to take rapid action to stop climate change.

“We are playing Russian roulette with our planet,” he said in a speech on World Environment Day on Wednesday.

He added: “We need a way off the highway to climate hell.”

The UN Secretary-General spoke in English and used the phrase “the highway to climate hell,” as he put it I did too in the past.

– The good news is that we are in control of the steering wheel, said Guterres, who expressed hope that it is still possible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

-We are the meteorite

Guterres likened humanity to the asteroid that struck Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

– When it comes to climate, we are not dinosaurs. We are the meteorite. We are not only in danger. Guterres said: We are the father.

He criticized companies that produce coal, oil and gas. Guterres called on all countries of the world to ban advertising for fossil fuel companies, which he also believes should be taxed more heavily.

The combustion of coal, oil and gas emits large amounts of carbon dioxide.

It touched the Norwegian record

Globally, the average temperature in May was the highest on record for the month, according to C3S. EU researchers will present more detailed results on Thursday.

For eleven months in a row, the global temperature has been at least 1.5 degrees higher than in pre-industrial times. If this situation continues for several years, the so-called 1.5 degree target will be exceeded.

In Norway, the May 2018 heat record was surpassed last month.

– May 2018 set extreme records. Only six years later, we are seeing similar temperatures, Hans-Olaf Heijn, a climate researcher at the Meteorological Institute, said at the weekend.

– It's getting warmer in the world, and Norway is no exception. With the heat also comes heavy rain, and we'll get more of that in the future.

Among the Norwegian weather stations that set a new record in May were several that have been measuring temperatures for more than a hundred years.