Paris, France:

Last month was the second-warmest September ever registered globally in an exceptional year “almost certain” to become the hottest on record, the EU climate monitor Copernicus said on Tuesday.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said the average global temperature last month was second only to September 2023. 

September saw “extreme” rainfall and destructive storms in many parts of the world, events that are occurring with greater severity and frequency as global temperatures rise due to climate change.

Warmer air can hold more water vapour, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense rainfall.

Hurricane Helene pounded the southeast United States, Typhoon Krathon slammed into Taiwan and Storm Boris brought floods and devastation to central Europe in a month of wild weather.

“The extreme rainfall events of this month, something we are observing more and more often, have been made worse by a warmer atmosphere, leading to more intense rainfall with months’ worth of rain falling in just a few days,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

2023 was the warmest year ever recorded but the months January through to September 2024 have set fresh highs, said Copernicus.

The monitor said it was “almost certain that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record”.

Copernicus records go back to 1940 but other sources of climate data such as ice cores, tree rings and coral skeletons allow scientists to expand their conclusions using evidence from much further in the past.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Representational file image.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Extreme weather conditions may pose a risk to inflation, along with prolonged geopolitical tensions that could keep crude oil prices volatile, the Reserve Bank’s April Bulletin said on April 23.

The retail based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has eased to 4.9% in March after averaging 5.1% in the preceding two months.

Also read: What is the outlook on the global economy? | Explained

The Reserve Bank, which mainly factors in CPI while arriving at its bi-monthly monetary policy, has kept the key interest rate unchanged at 6.5% since February 2023, citing concerns on the inflation front.

An article on ‘State of the Economy’ published in the Bulletin further said global growth momentum has been sustained in the first quarter of 2024, and the outlook for world trade is turning positive.

Treasury yields and mortgage rates are ticking up in major economies as expectations of interest rate cuts are being pared.

“In India, conditions are shaping up for an extension of a trend upshift in real GDP growth, backed by strong investment demand and upbeat business and consumer sentiments,” the article said.

The RBI, however, said the views expressed in the Bulletin article are of the authors and do not represent the views of the Reserve Bank of India.