🌡️ May 2024 sets new record as hottest May ever

May 2024 has been confirmed as the hottest May on record, marking a full year of consecutive months with record-breaking global average temperatures. The global average surface air temperature for May was 0.65°C above the 1991–2020 average, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). This continues a trend that has seen every month from June 2023 to May 2024 surpass its previous temperature records. 🌍

“This string of hottest months will be remembered as comparatively cold if we manage to stabilise the concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere in the very near future," warned C3C Director Carlo Buontempo. The Cayman Islands, like the rest of the world, is experiencing the effects of global warming with longer, hotter, drier periods becoming increasingly common. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed concern about the lack of action from world leaders in response to the escalating climate crisis. 🌡️

The Copernicus Climate Change Service data for May shows that the global average temperature was 1.52°C above the 1850–1900 pre-industrial average. The global average temperature for the last 12 months (June 2023 to May 2024) is the highest on record, at 0.75°C above the 1991–2020 average and 1.63°C above the 1850–1900 pre-industrial average. 📈