Have we 'already lost climate battle'?: April continues damning 11-month trend, emerges as hottest since 1940

In continuation of a damning 11-month trend, last month (April) was once again the hottest April on record. Every month for the past 11 months, the world has set a new temperature record.

On Wednesday (May 8), the European Union's climate change monitoring service in its monthly bulletin said that each month since June 2023 has ranked as the planet's hottest on record. This is in comparison to the months in previous years.

Highest on record

As per the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), including April, Earth's average temperature was the highest on record for a 12-month period. 

By how much? 1.61 degrees Celsius above the average in the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period.

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The dataset maintained by C3S contains historical information dating back to as early as 1940. To validate their findings, scientists also compared this record with other available data and established that last month was the hottest April on record, surpassing any previous April temperatures during the pre-industrial period.

What is behind this rise in temperatures?

Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels have been identified as the main culprit behind climate change.

Recent months also saw El Niño, a natural phenomenon which warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, raising temperatures.

The extremes, including months of record-breaking sea surface temperatures, have led scientists to question whether human activities have now triggered a tipping point in the planet's climate system.

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"I think many scientists have asked the question whether there could be a shift in the climate system," said Julien Nicolas, C3S Senior Climate Scientist as quoted by AFP.

Already, scientists have confirmed that climate change was behind some specific weather extremes last month. This includes the heatwave in the Sahel that has potential links to thousands of deaths. 

Experts warn that the Earth is perilously close to breaching the 1.5 degree Celsius target set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Hayley Fowler, a climate scientist at Newcastle University, told AFP that she thinks "we have already lost the battle".

"At what point do we declare we've lost the battle to keep temperatures below 1.5? My personal opinion is we've already lost that battle, and we really need to think very seriously about keeping below 2C and reducing our emissions as fast as we can," she said.

Technically, the world is yet to breach the 1.5C target as it refers to the average global temperature over decades. However, some scientists warn that meeting the target is no longer realistic.

(With inputs from agencies)