Bucharest, Jan 10 /Agerpres/ - The year 2024 is the warmest in the history of meteorological measurements in Romania, with an average annual temperature of 12.99 degrees Celsius and a temperature deviation of 2.7 degrees Celsius compared to the average for the 1991-2020 period, according to data from the National Meteorological Administration (ANM), cited by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (MMAP) in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Friday.

Last year was also confirmed by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) as the warmest year on record globally and the first calendar year in which the global average temperature exceeded the pre-industrial level by 1.5 degrees Celsius.

C3S is implemented, on behalf of the European Commission, by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), whose teams of scientists are monitoring key climate indicators and documenting unprecedented records for daily, monthly and annual global surface air temperatures in 2024.

'These records that my colleagues at the ANM have announced only worry us and underline what we knew: this is an era in which the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly dangerous. That's because they are bringing more and more extreme weather events: droughts, floods, severe storms, wildfires and so on. So we need to rethink how we approach things. It is crucial to come up with measures to combat these effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to come up with innovative technologies, to have a management adapted to this situation in terms of water, waste, forests. To have a different approach to the exploitation of natural resources. What I want to emphasize is that climate change affects each of us and we must act now!,' emphasized the Minister of Environment, Water and Forests, Mircea Fechet, in the cited press release.

The ANM report also reveals that 2012-2024 is the warmest period of 13 consecutive years in which the annual temperature deviations are positive (from 0.24 degrees Celsius in 2021 to 2,716 degrees Celsius in 2024), the first five warmest years in the 1900-2024 interval being 2024, 2023, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

Moreover, 2024 recorded, in ten months, positive monthly temperature deviations, the highest, in descending order being February with +7 degrees Celsius, followed by June (+3.7 degrees Celsius), July (+3, 5 degrees Celsius), March (+3.4 degrees Celsius), August (+3.2 degrees Celsius), April (+3.1 degrees Celsius), December (+2.7 degrees Celsius), September (+2.3 degrees Celsius), January (+1.9 degrees Celsius) and October (+0.9 degrees Celsius).

At the same time, February 2024 recorded the highest average monthly temperature, with a monthly temperature deviation of +7 degrees Celsius, which is the highest temperature deviation both for the month of February, but also compared to the other months of the year in our country.

Regarding the heat records of 2024 in Romania, the winter 2023-2024 was the warmest winter in the interval 1900-2024, the average temperature being 3.66 degrees Celsius and the deviation of +3.85 degrees Celsius, compared to the average of the interval 1991-2020.

Last summer was the hottest summer in the 1900-2024 interval, with an average temperature of 22.8 degrees Celsius and a temperature deviation of plus 3.5 degrees Celsius, compared to the average of the 1991-2020 interval, the months of June, July and August being the warmest summer months on record and with temperature deviations of plus 3.2 degrees Celsius in August 2024, plus 3.5 degrees Celsius in July and plus 3.7 degrees Celsius in June 2024, compared to the normal temperature for these months.

At the same time, in the summer of 2024, the earliest Code Red for heat wave was issued on June 22-23, and in July and August, Code Red for the longest consecutive days with persistent, intense and extended heat wave, respectively six consecutive days, in the periods July 13-18 and August 15-20.

In the same season, 15 Code Red weather warnings were issued for heat wave, persistent heat wave and extreme heat discomfort. The highest maximum temperatures were: 39.1 degrees Celsius (in June 2024 in Alexandria), 41.7 degrees Celsius (in July 2024 in Cernavoda), respectively 41.1 degrees Celsius (in August 2024 in Zimnicea).

In relation to the agricultural year 2023- 2024, namely the interval September 1, 2023 - August 31, 2024, it was the fifth driest agricultural year, with an average annual amount of 569 l/mp, in eight months the precipitation was below the specific monthly norms, in four consecutive months (May-August) the precipitation deficits associated with high temperatures accentuating the state of severe and extreme soil drought in almost the entire country.

A total of 166 general weather warnings were issued in 2024, of which 18 were Code Red. Nowcasting warnings totaled 3,063, of which 81 were Code Red.

The statistics of meteorological alerts in the period 2017-2024 show an increase in intensity, frequency and extension of the area of dangerous meteorological phenomena with an impact on socio-economic activities in Romania, say the specialists. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Badea, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - editor: Simona Iacob)