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In the next 5 years, there’s an 80% chance the summer heat will break global annual temperature records once again. A new forecast from the World Meteorological Organization and the U.K. Meteorological Office warns of rising temperatures as well as extreme weather incidents such as wildfires, strong hurricanes and heavy rains. They also predict that the annually averaged global mean near-surface temperature for each year between 2025 and 2029 will be between 1.2°C (2.2°F) and 1.9°C (3.4°F) higher than the average temperature over the years 1850–1900. Their projections come from hundreds of computer simulations in 10 global science centers.
Not cool: The United States recorded a summer average temperature of 23.2°C (73.8 °F) in 2024, which was 1.3°C (2.5 °F) above the 20th‑century mean, ranking 2024 as the fourth-warmest summer on record. However, the time period of May–September 2023 were the hottest months ever recorded in the United States. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, there was a substantial increase in heat-related emergency department visits in 2023—especially during the year’s prolonged heat waves.