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The world’s average temperature climbed to its highest level ever recorded on Sunday, according to the European Union’s climate monitor.
The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found that the global average surface temperature rose to 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 21 — marginally higher than the previous record of 17.08 degrees Celsius set on July 6 last year.
“On July 21st, C3S recorded a new record for the daily global mean temperature,” C3S Director Carlo Buontempo said Tuesday.
“What is truly staggering is how large the difference is between the temperature of the last 13 months and the previous temperature records. We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years,” Buontempo said in a statement.
C3S confirmed on Tuesday that Sunday’s average temperature reflects a fresh high, in their records which stretch back to 1940. However, they noted that it is the difference between the temperatures since July 2023 and all previous years that really stands out.
Before July 2023, the EU’s climate monitor said the previous daily global average temperature record was 16.8 degrees Celsius on August 12, 2016.
CS3 said there have now been 57 days since July 3 last year that have exceeded that previous record.
A woman tries to cool off with a fan that spray water to refresh people during a hot day as the National Weather Service on Monday issued a warning due to hot weather that will remain in effect until Wednesday night in New York City, United States on July 15, 2024.
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Excessive heat has gripped large parts of the U.S., Russia and southern Europe in recent days.
Extreme heat is made much more likely by the climate crisis, the chief driver of which is the burning of fossil fuels.
CS3 recently confirmed that the planet’s more than year-long hot streak continued apace in June. Every month since June last year, has ranked as Earth’s hottest since records began, when compared to the corresponding month in previous years.
Some climate researchers had previously warned that an extraordinary run of record heat was likely to usher in a long, hot summer — “and not in a good way.”
Scientists have repeatedly called for rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to stop global average temperatures rising.