You may have felt the comforting coolness of autumn this September, but not everyone shared the same feeling. If you look at the official documents of the European Union Climate Change Programme, you will see that the global average temperature in September 2024 is a staggering 61.1°F (16.17°C). This makes this September the second hottest September in history.

In fact, this temperature was a long way from the incredible record of 61.4°F (16.38°C) set in September 2023. Scientists clearly state that the main culprit is human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Some places on our planet will bear the brunt of this heat more than others in September 2024. When we compare these temperatures with records from the last three decades, the upward trend in global temperatures is very clear.

Historical temperature perspective

The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), an expert climate monitor based in Bonn, Germany, has some key figures to share.

The September 2024 temperature was 2.77°F (1.54°C) above the average temperature recorded between 1850 and 1900. Considering that we think of this period as the “pre-industrial” era, these figures tell a thought-provoking story of our rapidly changing climate.

Heavy rainfall in September 2024

“September 2024 was the second warmest month ever for both the world and Europe,” said C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess.

In addition, rising global temperatures have brought about a series of extremely wet weather. This phenomenon is related to the ability of a warmer atmosphere to hold more moisture. So what does this mean in our daily lives?

“The extreme precipitation we have seen with increasing frequency this month has been made worse by a warmer atmosphere, resulting in more intense precipitation, resulting in a month’s worth of rain falling in just a few days,” Burgess said.

“As temperatures rise, the risk of extreme precipitation will continue to increase; “The sooner we achieve net zero emissions, the sooner we can reduce this risk.”

A year full of extremes

Full temperature readings from C3S show that 2024 is a year full of extremes. In the first half of the year, that is, from January to June, each month surpassed the previous one and became the hottest month in this period.

However, July 2024 dropped it one notch, falling short of the 2023 record. Although September 2024 did not break any records, it was much warmer than 20-30 years ago.

In summarizing the situation, C3S highlights perhaps the most worrying trend, namely the steady increase in global average temperatures.

When we looked at data from October 2023 to September 2024, we found that the global average temperature was the second warmest among the 12-month periods. The last 12 months were 1.33°F (0.74°C) warmer than the average temperature between 1991 and 2020, and an alarming 2.91°F (1.62°C) warmer than the pre-industrial average between 1850 and 1900 .

Heat and rain in Europe

Europe had its own struggle with extreme weather. September 2024 was the second hottest year on record on the continent, second only to September 2023.

In addition to the heat wave, there was also an increase in precipitation on the continent; This caused flooding and major damage in Central and Eastern Europe. Outside of Europe, extreme temperatures were recorded in Canada, the central and western parts of the United States, South America, northeastern Africa, China and Japan.

The global average sea surface temperature was set at 20.83°C for September 2024, making it the second warmest temperature for this month (after September 2023).

September in the UK experienced variable temperatures and persistent showers; It was hot and sticky at the beginning, but started to cool down by the 11th. No national monthly records were broken, although it was the wettest September in some counties, including Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire.

Facts show that our planet is warming at an alarming rate due to human activities. Now is the time to act to stop emissions and global warming.