July 21 has been confirmed as the hottest day ever, according to preliminary data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The global average surface air temperature reached 17.09 degrees Celsius, slightly higher than the previous record of 17.08 degrees set last July.
Every month since June 2023 – 13 months in a series – has ranked as the hottest month on the planet since records began, compared to the corresponding month in previous years, Copernicus said. Climate change is being increasingly blamed for the concerning situation.
Climate change and El Nino raising global temperatures
There is a huge possibility of 2024 outranking 2023 as the hottest year since records started to be kept – as the climate crisis and the El Nino phenomenon – that ended earlier this year – have pushed temperatures ever higher this year.
Climate change has turned into one of the greatest threats humans have ever faced. It has been increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, including floods and hurricanes. The deepening crisis is putting an increasing number of people globally in danger.
Global heating is bringing hotter conditions to several countries across the globe. Spain is under extreme fire risk currently as temperatures soar in the south of the country. Further north, people in Berlin and Paris have also been asked to prepare for higher temperatures.
July sees another global temperature record broken
The 2015 Paris agreement seeks to limit global heating to under 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average (1850-1900), and ideally to 1.5 degrees. But the human activities-led climate crisis is making it incredibly difficult to stick to the threshold.
In another record broken this July, researchers have confirmed that each of the past 12 months has been over 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, bringing us closer to breaking the Paris deal. Check out the black-coloured blocks in the X post above.
