The year 2024 was the warmest year in the history of meteorological measurements in Romania, according to the National Meteorological Administration. “It is an era in which the effects of climate change are becoming more and more dangerous,” says the Minister of the Environment, Mircea Fechet.
2024 was also confirmed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) as the warmest year on record globally and the first calendar year in which the global average temperature exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.5°C.
“These records announced by my colleagues at ANM only worry us and underscore what we already knew: this is an era in which the effects of climate change are becoming more and more dangerous. This is because they bring more and more extreme weather phenomena: droughts, floods, strong storms, wildfires and so on. So we need to rethink how we approach things. It is crucial to come up with measures that combat these effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to come up with innovative technologies, to have a management adapted to this situation in terms of water, waste, forests. Let’s have a different approach regarding the exploitation of natural resources. What I want to emphasize is the fact that climate change affects each of us and we must act now!”, emphasized the Minister of Environment, Water and Forests, Mircea Fechet.
The summer of 2024 was the warmest summer in the interval 1900-2024
The period 2012-2024 represents the warmest period of 13 consecutive years in which annual thermal deviations are positive, the first 5 warmest years in the interval 1900-2024 being 2024, 2023, 2019, 2020 and 2022.
The year 2024 recorded, in 10 months, positive monthly thermal deviations, the largest, in descending order, being the month of February, followed by June, July, March and August. February 2024 also recorded the highest average monthly temperature. Regarding the thermal records of the year 2024 in Romania, the winter of 2023-2024 was the warmest winter of the interval 1900-2024, the average seasonal temperature being 3.66 degrees Celsius, and the deviation of +3.85 degrees Celsius compared to the average of the interval 1991- 2020.
In the summer of 2024, the earliest red heat code was issued
At the same time, the summer of 2024 was the warmest summer in the interval 1900-2024, the average seasonal temperature being 22.80 degrees Celsius, and the deviation of +3.50 degrees Celsius compared to the average of the interval 1991-2020, the months of June, July and August being the warmest summer months in history and with temperature deviations of +3.20 degrees Celsius in August 2024, +3.50 degrees Celsius in July 2024 and 3.70 degrees Celsius in June 2024, compared to the thermal normal for these months.
In the summer of 2024, the earliest heat wave red code was issued on June 22-23, and in July and August, a red code was issued for the longest intervals of consecutive days with a persistent, intense and extended heat wave, respectively 6 consecutive days in the periods 13-18 July and 15-20 August 2024.
Extreme weather phenomena all over the world
Also, in the summer of 2024, 15 code red weather warnings were issued for heatwave, persistent heat wave and particularly severe thermal discomfort. The highest maximum temperatures were: 39.1 degrees Celsius in June 2024 in Alexandria, 41.7 degrees Celsius in July 2024 in Cernavodă and, respectively, 41.1 degrees Celsius in August 2024 in Zimnicea.
In 2024, a total of 166 general weather alerts were issued, of which 18 were code red. The now-casting warnings were in a total number of 3063, of which 81 were code red. The statistics of meteorological alerts from the period 2017-2024 highlight the increase in intensity, frequency and expansion of the area of dangerous meteorological phenomena with an impact on socio-economic activity in our country.
In 2024, extreme weather events were observed around the world, from severe storms and floods to heat waves, drought and wildfires. The increased frequency and intensity of these phenomena pose a significant risk to the livelihoods of people around the world.
Source: www.descopera.ro
