July hottest month recorded to date: EU climate observatory
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The global mean for 2023 is the third highest on record, at 0.43C relative to 1991-2020, compared with 0.49C for 2016 and 0.48C for 2020.
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A man drinks water in the shade as temperatures are expected to hit 48.3 C. The July 20, 2023 was taken in Phoenix (AP)
The climate observatory of the European Union declared Tuesday that July was the hottest month ever measured on Earth.
The previous month, which was 0.33 degrees Celsius warmer than the record set in July 2019 when the average temperature was 16.63C (32 Fahrenheit), was characterized by heatwaves and fires all around the world, it said.
"The month was 0.72C warmer than the 1991-2020 average for July," it said.
The use of fossil fuels has contributed to an increase in global temperature of about 1.2 degrees Celsius since the late 1800s, which has increased heatwave length, intensity, and frequency.
"Heatwaves were experienced in multiple regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including southern Europe. Well-above average temperatures occurred over several South American countries and around much of Antarctica," the EU climate observatory Copernicus said.
"The global mean for 2023 is the third highest on record, at 0.43C relative to 1991-2020, compared with 0.49C for 2016 and 0.48C for 2020. The gap between 2023 and 2016 is expected to narrow in the coming months, as the latter months of 2016 were relatively cool... while the remainder of 2023 is expected to be relatively warm as the current El Nino event develops."
The month of July might set a new record, according to scientists.
Concerns regarding potential repercussions on the climate of the planet, marine life, and coastal towns have been raised as a result of the world's oceans breaking a record for temperature.
According to data from the European Union's climate observatory, the temperature of the ocean's surface increased to 20.96 degrees C (69.7 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 30.
A Copernicus Climate Change Service official had told AFP that the previous record temperature was 20.95 C in March 2016. Polar regions were not included in the test samples.
'Global boiling has arrived'
"We just witnessed global air temperatures and global ocean surface temperatures set new all-time records in July. These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events," Deputy Director of the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, Samantha Burgess, said, adding that "2023 is currently the third warmest year to date at 0.43 C above the recent average, with the average global temperature in July at 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels.
"Even if this is only temporary, it shows the urgency for ambitious efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main driver behind these records," she added.
While southern Europe, sections of North Africa, the southern United States, and some areas of China have been suffering from a brutal heatwave, forest fires have scorched large portions of Greece and burned 30 million acres (12 million hectares) in Canada.
Deadly rains that were witnessed by China's capital in recent days were the heaviest since records began 140 years ago, the city's weather service confirmed last week.
The World Meteorological Organization and Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service said it is "extremely likely that July 2023 will be the hottest July and also the hottest month on record" and its Director Carlo Buontempo described the temperatures as being "remarkable".
In addition to these official records, he claimed that proxy data for the climate dating further back, such as tree rings or ice cores, indicates that the temperatures recorded during the period may have been "unprecedented in our history in the last few thousand years."
Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN, recently issued an SOS.
"Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning," he said, urging immediate and bold action to cut planet-heating emissions.
"The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived."
