Graphic detail | Hot streak

Six charts help to explain 2024’s freakish temperatures

Could the end of El Niño bring some relief?

CLIMATE SCIENTISTS say they are running out of adjectives to describe recent weather anomalies. Last year was the hottest on record: the World Meteorological Organisation said that temperatures were roughly 1.45°C above pre-industrial levels. Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the EU’s climate agency, said that the second half of 2023 had “truly been shocking”. 

This year could be hotter still. The six charts below visualise the latest anomalies and project where things could go next.

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