PARIS: Last month was the second-warmest September ever registered globally in an exceptional year “almost certain” to become the hottest on record, the EU climate monitor Copernicus said on Tuesday.

As global temperatures rise due to climate change, Septem­ber also saw “extreme rainfall and destructive storms” across the world, events that are occurring with greater severity and frequency.

Pakistan was “severely” impacted by the monsoon while wetter than average conditions were also witnessed in parts of Africa, Russia, China, Australia and Brazil, said Copernicus, which uses billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations to aid its calculations.

In September some parts of the world saw “months’ worth of rain falling in just a few days”, said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Climate monitor says Pakistan ‘severely’ impacted by monsoon

“The extreme rainfall events of this month, something we are observing more and more often, have been made worse by a warmer atmosphere,” the official said. “The risk of extreme rainfall will continue to increase with rising temperatures.”

In a month of wild weather, Hu­­rricane Helene pounded the sou­t­h­­east United States, Typhoon Kra­thon slammed into Taiwan and Storm Boris brought floods and devastation to central Euro­­pe. Typhoons Yagi and Bebinca left a trail of destruction in Asia while deadly floods hit Nepal, Japan and west and central Africa.

The average global temperature last month was second only to September 2023, said Copernicus.

Last year was the hottest on record, but 2024 looks set to rewrite history yet again, as global warming isn’t just about rising temperatures but the knock-on effect of all that extra heat being trapped in the atmosphere and seas resulting in more intense downpours and storms.

New highs

Copernicus said the months January through September 2024 have already set fresh highs “making it almost certain that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record”.

Fourteen of the last 15 months have been at least 1.5 degrees above average temperatures experienced in the pre-industrial era, taken as the period between 1850 and 1900.

Copernicus records go back to 1940 but other sources of climate data such as ice cores, tree rings and coral skeletons allow scientists to expand their conclusions using evidence from much deeper in the past.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2024