According to US meteorologists, Monday was the hottest day in the world since records began. An average temperature of 17.01 degrees Celsius was measured on July 3, the US Oceanography and Weather Administration NOAA said on Tuesday. This surpassed the previous record of 16.92 degrees on July 24, 2022.
Monday’s record has yet to be confirmed by other measurements. However, it could soon be broken again when midsummer begins in the northern hemisphere. Global mean temperatures usually continue to rise until late July/early August. The global average temperature fluctuates between twelve and 17 degrees over the course of the year and averaged 16.2 degrees in early July between 1979 and 2000.
At the beginning of June this year, the European earth observation program Copernicus measured the highest global average temperatures ever recorded in the period. The previous records had been surpassed to a “considerable extent”. The UK saw its hottest June on record, multiple temperature records were broken in Asia and there was also a heatwave in Mexico.
The great heat could only be a foretaste, as the incipient El Niño weather phenomenon could further increase the temperatures that are rising worldwide as a result of climate change. According to NOAA, “new temperature records” are possible in some regions due to El Niño.
