Summer 2024 was the hottest on record but Irish weather broke from the norm
"Just because our backyard has not been particularly warm this summer - does not mean global warming has gone away"
Summer 2024 was the hottest ever recorded on Earth, with August becoming the thirteenth month in 14 where average temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
But according to the latest report from Copernicus Climate Change Service, Ireland’s northwest was one of a handful of areas that saw below-average temperatures for the time of year.
Maynooth University climatologist, Peter Thorne, says that while the “AMOC [gulf stream] has been weakening for a considerable amount of time... that’s got very little to do with the summer we’ve just had”. But he also warned that “just because our backyard has not been particularly warm this summer - does not mean global warming has gone away”.
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“The northwest of Ireland has been a bit chilly on the Arctic air side of the Jetstream pretty much the whole summer. But in a world where we hadn’t emitted greenhouse gases, it would have been colder still.”
He added: “Europe’s had its hottest summer, August has been nearly as warm as last August. It’s just another report card pointing out that we’re going in the wrong direction.”
While rising greenhouse gases made most of the world drier throughout August, including in the south of Ireland, it brought more rain than usual to the country’s northwest as well as Iceland, the north of the UK and Europe’s northern seaboard. Sea ice was also 17 per cent below average in the Arctic and 7 per cent in Antarctica.
World governments agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above 1850-1900 levels when they signed the Paris Agreement in 2015. Delivering on that promise is crucial to staving off the worst impacts of the climate crisis as, if they don’t, 99 per cent of coral reefs will die and we’ll see even more extreme weather and sea level rise, exposing more people to floods.
After 13 months where average temperatures have exceeded 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, governments have still not yet broken the Paris Agreement but scientists have warned we are edging ever closer and have repeatedly called for urgent action to reduce emissions.
Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said: “During the past three months of 2024, the globe has experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record and the hottest boreal summer on record. This string of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest year on record.
“The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
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