Fossil fuels have kept Earth 1.5°C hotter than its pre-industrial average temperature for more than a year now.
And yet, where I live in the UK, this summer has felt like one of the coolest I can remember. If the planet is in the middle of “a large and continuing shift” to a hotter climate as scientists say it is, why is the weather so cold during what is supposed to be the warmest time of year?
Satisfactory answers to questions like this can nip climate scepticism in the bud. Luckily, the experts we’ll hear from today have plenty.
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Matthew Patterson is an atmospheric physicist at the University of Reading. He says that the UK’s dismal summer hasn’t been unusually cold – in fact, measurements of temperature, sunlight and rainfall in June 2024 were all close to their seasonal averages.
Unfortunately, “average” conditions now feel colder than they used to.
Read more: Average months now feel cold thanks to climate change
Europe has warmed at roughly double the global average rate since the 1970s, while extreme summer temperatures have risen........