June 2024 beats June 2023, sizzles to 13th straight monthly heat record

Last month was the hottest June on record, the EU's climate change monitoring service said on Monday, continuing a streak of exceptional temperatures that some scientists said puts 2024 on track to be the world's hottest recorded year.

Every month since June 2023 - 13 months in a row - has ranked as the planet's hottest since records began, compared with the corresponding month in previous years, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin.

The latest data suggest 2024 could outrank 2023 as the hottest year since records began after human-caused climate change and the El Nino natural weather phenomenon both pushed temperatures to record highs in the year so far, some scientists said.