Earth鈥檚 string of 13 straight months with a new average heat record came to an end this past July as the natural El Nino climate pattern ebbed, the European climate agency Copernicus announced Wednesday.

But July 2024 鈥檚 average heat just missed surpassing the July of a year ago, and scientists said the end of the record-breaking streak changes nothing about the threat posed by climate change.

鈥淭he overall context hasn鈥檛 changed,鈥� Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement. 鈥淥ur climate continues to warm.鈥�

Human-caused climate change drives extreme weather events that are wreaking havoc around the globe, with several examples just in recent weeks. In Cape Town, South Africa, thousands were displaced by torrential rain, gale-force winds, flooding and more. A fatal landslide hit Indonesia鈥檚 Sulawesi island. Beryl left a massive path of destruction as it set the record for the earliest Category 4 hurricane. And Japanese authorities said more than 120 people died in record heat in Tokyo.

Those hot temperatures have been especially merciless.

The globe for July 2024 averaged 62.4 degrees Fahrenheit (16.91 degrees Celsius), which is 1.2 degrees (0.68 Celsius) above the 30-year average for the month, according to Copernicus. Temperatures were a small fraction lower than the same period last year.

It is the second-warmest July and second-warmest of any month recorded in the agency鈥檚 records, behind only July 2023. The Earth also had its two hottest days on record, on July 22 and July 23, each averaging about 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit (17.16 degrees Celsius).

During July, the world was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer, by Copernicus鈥� measurement, than pre-industrial times. That鈥檚 close to the warming limit that nearly all the countries in the world agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement: 1.5 degrees.

El Nino 鈥� which naturally warms the Pacific Ocean and changes weather across the globe 鈥� spurred the 13 months of record heat, said Copernicus senior climate scientist Julien Nicolas. That has come to a close, hence July鈥檚 slight easing of temperatures. La Nina conditions 鈥� natural cooling 鈥� aren鈥檛 expected until later in the year.

But there鈥檚 still a general trend of warming.

鈥淭he global picture is not that much different from where we were a year ago,鈥� Nicolas said in an interview.

鈥淭he fact that the global sea surface temperature is and has been at record or near record levels for the past more than a year now has been an important contributing factor,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he main driving force, driving actor behind this record temperature is also the long-term warming trend that is directly related to buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.鈥�

That includes carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.

July鈥檚 temperatures hit certain regions especially hard, including western Canada and the western United States. They baked, with around one-third of the U.S. population under warnings at one point for dangerous and record-breaking heat.

In southern and eastern Europe, the Italian health ministry issued its most severe heat warning for several cities in southern Europe and the Balkans. Greece was forced to close its biggest cultural attraction, the Acropolis, due to excessive temperatures. A majority of France was under heat warnings as the country welcomed the Olympics in late July.

Also affected were most of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and eastern Antarctica, according to Copernicus. Temperatures in Antarctica were well above average, the scientists say.

鈥淭hings are going to continue to get worse because we haven鈥檛 stopped doing the thing that鈥檚 making them worse,鈥� said Gavin Schmidt, climatologist and director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who wasn鈥檛 part of the report.

Schmidt noted that different methodologies or calculations could produce slightly different results, including that July may have even continued the streak. The primary takeaway, he said: 鈥淓ven if the record-breaking streak comes to an end, the forces that are pushing the temperatures higher, they鈥檙e not stopping.

鈥淒oes it matter that July is a record or not a record? No, because the thing that matters, the thing that is impacting everybody,鈥� Schmidt added, 鈥渋s the fact that the temperatures this year and last year are still much, much warmer than they were in the 1980s, than they were pre-industrial. And we鈥檙e seeing the impacts of that change.鈥�

People across the globe shouldn鈥檛 see relief in July鈥檚 numbers, the experts say.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of attention given to this 13-month streak of global records,鈥� said Copernicus鈥� Nicolas. 鈥淏ut the consequences of climate change have been seen for many years. This started before June 2023, and they won鈥檛 end because this streak of records is ending.鈥�

___

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate solutions reporter. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

___

The Associated Press鈥� climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP鈥檚 standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Alexa St. John, The Associated Press