Record-breaking 2024 now the hottest year since 1991, climatebook.gr scientists say
More specifically, 2024 was the hottest year since 1991, with an average annual temperature of 16C, while the average maximum temperature throughout the regions of Greece was higher than the average temperature of the 1991-2020 climate period.
According to the presentation, on 77% of the days of the year there was a positive deviation from average temperatures, clearly reflecting climate warming throughout all seasons of the year.
The head of research at the National Observatory of Athens Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, Dr Konstantinos Lagouvardos, described the behaviour of the weather in 2024 as "extreme", given that temperatures deviated by +1.8C throughout the country from the 1991-2020 average, with above-normal temperatures for "nearly all the months of the year."
The year 2024 was also the hottest year on record globally, with the average temperature exceeding the pre-industrial (1850-1900) average by 1.6C, while carbon dioxide levels rose significantly to reach an average of 422.1 ppm, or 2.9 ppm more than the average in 2023.
In Greece, on 85 of the 92 days of the summer there was very high positive deviation from the average temperature of the last 30 years, with June being the hottest of recent decades. The scientists also highlighted the intense heat stress in many urban areas, especially Athens, where temperatures often remained above 29C both day and night, sometimes for several days at a time.
Only May and November were slightly cooler months in 2024, while February and June were both much hotter than usual. The figures also showed that northern and western Greece are heating up more quickly, at double the rate of areas such as the islands of the Aegean, with potentially serious repercussions for agriculture, tourism and forest fires.
The year 2024 was the ninth driest on record, with an increase in dry days, while it was also the warmest year on record since 1991 as regards the average temperature of the sea, which occasionally exceeded 30C in July and August in the sea between Rhodes and Kastellorizo, as well as parts of the Ionian. Days of snow cover were also 30-35% down relative to the 2005-2023 average, with higher than average snow cover only observed at high altitudes.
With respect to wildfires, the scientists said the amount of land burnt was lower than in previous years at just 42,000 hectares (from an average of 50,300 in 2026-2024) but also that fires started earlier and ended later in the fire season. They also reported 31 extreme weather incidents with serious repercussions, including nine deaths.
AMNA
