Detroit: This year's June-July heat broke all previous records, with El Niño blamed for the extreme weather. But now that a 13-month streak of global heat records has ended in July, experts warn against complacency. The end of the record-breaking streak doesn't change anything about the threat posed by climate change, scientists said.

"Our climate is getting increasingly warmer," Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement. Human-caused climate change leads to extreme weather events that wreak havoc around the world, with many examples in recent weeks.

Such was the situation in South Africa and Japan

In Cape Town, South Africa, thousands of people were displaced by torrential rains, stormy winds, flooding and other causes. A deadly landslide struck Indonesia's Sulawesi island. Japanese officials said more than 120 people died from record heat in Tokyo.

According to Copernicus, the average global temperature in July 2024 was 62.4 degrees Fahrenheit (16.91 degrees Celsius), 1.2 degrees (0.68 Celsius) above the 30-year average for this month. The temperature was slightly lower than the same period last year.

There was so much difference from last year

This is the second-warmest July of any month on record, after July 2023. Earth also had its two hottest days on record, July 22 and July 23, each averaging about 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit. During July, the world was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than in the past few years, according to Copernicus' measurements. That's close to the warming limit that nearly all of the world's countries agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

The effect of El Nino was also seen on Asia and France

In southern and eastern Europe, the Italian health ministry issued the most severe heat warning yet for several cities in southern Europe and the Balkans. Greece was forced to close its biggest cultural attraction, the Acropolis, because of extreme temperatures. Much of France was under a heat warning as the country hosted the Olympics in late July.

According to Copernicus, most of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and eastern Antarctica were also affected. Scientists say temperatures in Antarctica were well above average.