LONDON: The planet has witnessed a new record for the hottest day ever recorded, as global average temperatures continued to climb due to the effects of climate change.
According to preliminary data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, Monday, July 22, marked the hottest day on record, surpassing the temperature recorded the previous day.
On Monday, the global average surface air temperature was measured at 17.15°C, 0.06°C higher than Sunday’s record. This breaks the previous record set over four consecutive days in early July 2023, and before that, in August 2016.
Karsten Haustein, a climate scientist at Leipzig University in Germany, commented that this new record might represent the warmest absolute global average temperature in tens of thousands of years.
In recent days, various regions have experienced unprecedented heat. Cities in Japan, Indonesia, and China have registered record high temperatures, while Gulf countries have faced heat indexes, factoring in humidity, exceeding 60°C. Parts of Europe have also seen temperatures soar past 45°C.
Scientists attribute this alarming rise in temperature to climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels. Notably, this year’s record-breaking heat is occurring without the influence of the El Nino climate pattern, which played a role in last year’s extreme temperatures.
Haustein said that it is “remarkable” that the record has been breached even though the world is currently in a neutral climate phase, no longer affected by El Nino.
