BRUSSELS - July 2024 is the second-warmest month worldwide in the data record, trailing slightly behind July 2023, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service reported on Thursday.

The average surface air temperature of July was 16.91 degrees Celsius, 0.04 degrees Celsius lower than a year ago, marking the end of a 13-month period where each month was the hottest on record for that time of year, according to a report released by Copernicus.

"The streak of record-breaking months has come to an end, but only by a whisker," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the agency.

Although July 2024 has narrowly fallen short of becoming the hottest month, the Earth still experienced two warmest days on record on July 22 and 23, with the global average temperature reaching 17.16 degrees Celsius and 17.15 degrees Celsius, the report said.

"The overall context hasn't changed, our climate continues to warm," Burgess said, adding that the devastating effects of climate change will continue until global greenhouse gas emissions reach net zero.

While the year 2023 has been confirmed as the warmest year on record, the report suggested that the year 2024 is increasingly likely to surpass 2023 and become the new warmest year.

From January to July 2024, the global temperature anomaly is 0.27 degrees Celsius higher than the same period in 2023. For 2024 not to surpass 2023 as the warmest year, the average anomaly for the remaining months would need to decrease by at least 0.23 degrees Celsius.

This rarely occurred in the entire dataset, increasing the likelihood of 2024 becoming the hottest year, the report added.