Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet), an agency linked to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, identified 2024 as the hottest year in the country, based on a study of annual temperatures since 1961. The analysis also revealed a rising trend in average annual temperatures over the period.
According to the survey, records peaked last year, with the average annual temperature reaching 25.02°C. The 2024 data reflect an increase of 0.79°C compared to the historical average of the past two decades (1991-2020), during which the average temperature was 24.23°C.
The 2024 figures surpass those of 2023, which had been the hottest year since 1961. The annual average for 2023 was 24.92°C, 0.69°C above the historical average of the past two decades.
Inmet’s analysis of the deviations in average temperatures since 1961, compared to the historical average from 1991 to 2020, reveals a statistically significant upward trend. “This trend may be associated with climate change due to rising global temperatures and local environmental changes,” the agency notes.
Inmet also highlights the impact of the recent El Niño phenomenon, which ranged from strong to very strong, influencing temperatures in 2023 and the early months of 2024.
El Niño is a natural phenomenon marked by the weakening of trade winds (which blow from east to west) and the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. These shifts in the interaction between the ocean surface and the lower atmosphere occur at intervals of three to seven years.
Source: Agência Brasil