As regions of India endure a severe heat wave extending from May into June, NASA scientists have reported that May 2024 was the hottest May ever recorded. This marks an unprecedented year of consecutive record-high monthly temperatures globally.
Researchers from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) have reported that average global temperatures over the past 12 months have set new records for each respective month, marking an unmatched streak.
“We are clearly facing a climate crisis,” stated NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Communities across America, including those in Arizona, California, and Nevada, as well as communities globally, are experiencing extreme heat at unprecedented levels. NASA and the Biden-Harris Administration recognize the urgent need to safeguard our planet. We are delivering crucial climate data to enhance lives and livelihoods, benefiting all of humanity.”
This series of record temperatures aligns with a long-term warming trend largely driven by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past four decades, this trend has become increasingly evident, with the last ten consecutive years being the warmest since records began in the late 19th century.
Prior to this 12-month streak, the longest period of consecutive record monthly temperatures was seven months between 2015 and 2016.
“We’re witnessing an increase in hot days, hot months, and hot years,” said Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate advisor. “We understand these rising temperatures are driven by our greenhouse gas emissions and are affecting people and ecosystems globally.”
According to NASA’s analysis, a temperature baseline is typically established over several decades, usually 30 years. Over the past 12 months, the average global temperature was 2.34 degrees Fahrenheit (1.30 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century baseline (1951 to 1980). This surpasses the 2.69 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) increase compared to the late 19th-century average.
NASA scientists gather data from tens of thousands of meteorological stations on land, along with instruments on ships and buoys, to compute Earth’s global temperature. This raw data is subsequently analyzed using methodologies that consider variables such as the uneven distribution of temperature stations and the impacts of urban heating.
Natural occurrences such as El Niño and La Niña, which warm and cool the tropical Pacific Ocean, can influence year-to-year fluctuations in global temperatures. The intense El Niño event that started in the spring of 2023 played a role in driving the extreme heat experienced during the summer and fall of that year.
As of May 2024, NOAA forecasted a 49% likelihood of La Niña developing between June and August, and a 69% likelihood between July and September. A La Niña event could potentially lower average global temperatures this year by cooling the tropical Pacific.
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