SEOUL: South Korea’s nationwide average temperature was 14.5 deg C in 2024, making it the warmest year since 1973 in the country, according to the annual climate report from Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) released on April 1.
According to the KMA report, South Korea saw 103.6 abnormally warm days based on daily low records and 76.7 abnormally warm days based on daily high records.
Abnormally warm days, as defined by KMA, refer to days when daily low and high temperatures fall within the top 10 per cent of historical averages for that time of the year.
The average summer temperature was 25.6 deg C, making the summer of 2024 the hottest since 1973.
Based on average summer temperature records, it was 1.9 deg C hotter than in previous years.
A high number of tropical nights – referring to overnight temperatures remaining at or above 25 deg C from 6pm to 9am the following day – were also observed for 20.2 days, which was 3.1 times higher than in previous years.
Summer also lasted much longer in 2024, with abnormally warm temperatures recorded into September 2024.
That month, South Korea saw 19.7 abnormally warm days based on daily lows, while 16.9 abnormally warm days were observed based on daily highs.
During the Chuseok holiday, the mid-autumn festival, all parts of Seoul came under a heatwave warning, the latest warning issued in the capital since the heat warning system was introduced in 2008.
Such findings regarding abnormally warm temperatures were not just observed by South Korea’s weather agency. In the Significant Weather and Climate Events 2024 report, the World Meteorological Organisation also commented: “South Korea experienced the hottest summer in 2024.”
Prolonged high temperatures, triggering heatwaves and tropical nights led to great damage to crops, as up to 3,477 ha of farmland and 17,732 ha of rice paddies were damaged.
By region, the most severely affected areas were the North and South Jeolla provinces and South Chungcheong province, with reported damages of up to 3,098ha, 9,261ha and 2,979ha, respectively.
Additionally, up to 3,704 cases of heat-related illnesses were reported from May 20 to Sept 30, 2024, a 31.4 per cent increase compared with the number of reports made in 2023.
Due to high temperatures, the surrounding seas of South Korea were also unusually warm.
The average sea surface temperature in 2024 was 17.8 deg C – the highest it has been in the past 10 years from 2015 to 2024.
Additionally, the number of days that saw abnormally high sea temperatures was recorded at 182.1, which was 3.6 times higher than the 10-year average of 50.4 days.
Such high sea surface temperatures prolonged into the winter, triggering heavy snowfall in November 2024, as cold air passed over the unusually warm waters of the West Sea.
Unusually heavy snowfall was observed that month, particularly focused in Greater Seoul, which includes Gyeonggi province and Incheon, and Gangwon province, with some regions seeing accumulated snowfall of up to 40cm over three days.
According to KMA, the number of heatwave days has generally increased while the number of cold wave days has decreased, based on climate records between 1973 and 2024.
KMA administrator Chang Dong-eon noted that 2024 was the year when the impacts of “climate change were keenly felt”.
“The KMA will continue to accurately analyse the scientific causes of climate change and extreme weather patterns to provide timely information to government agencies, industries and the public to safeguard the people’s lives and their safety,” Dr Chang added. - The Korea Herald/ANN
