The European Union's climate change monitoring agency, Copernicus, confirmed on Monday, July 8th, 2024, that the current year is the hottest on record, corroborating earlier reports by "Bran Press."

In its monthly bulletin, Copernicus stated that every month since June 2023, a total of 13 consecutive months, has been classified as the warmest on record compared to the same month in previous years, according to Al Jazeera Net.

Recent data indicates that 2024 is likely to surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record. The average global temperature for the past 12 months, ending in June, reached its highest ever for a 12-month period, registering 1.64 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average (1850-1900).

This unprecedented heat is attributed to human-induced climate change, exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon. El Niño has driven temperatures to record highs, with climate change already causing severe consequences worldwide in 2024. Over a thousand people perished due to extreme heat during last month's Hajj pilgrimage.

Frederic Otto, a climate scientist at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, expressed a "high chance" of 2024 becoming the hottest year on record. She explained that El Niño is a natural occurrence, appearing and disappearing periodically, adding that while El Niño cannot be stopped, the burning of oil, gas, and coal can be halted.

Earlier, climate journalist Ali Al-Aqeili told "Barran Press" that the unprecedented rise in global temperatures since the beginning of the year is partly due to the El Niño phenomenon, which emerged in the Pacific Ocean in 2023 and persists. Despite its peak intensity waning, its effects remain significant.

According to Al-Aqeili, El Niño is a periodic natural phenomenon occurring every 4 to 8 years, lasting for one to two years. It previously occurred in 2015 and 2016, but this time it is the strongest on record, registering unprecedented temperatures since the start of temperature records in 1850.

El Niño arises from increased activity of trade winds along the Pacific Ocean equator, blowing from the Pacific towards the southern trade coasts of Asia. This activity pushes the heat stored in the ocean into the atmosphere, according to Al-Aqeili.

He also suggested that the intense solar storm that reached Earth on May 10th, the strongest since 2003, might contribute to rising global temperatures. Additionally, the sun is currently approaching the peak of its 11-year activity cycle.