Monday was unofficially the hottest day since records began — until Tuesday, that is. The global average temperature on July 4 hit 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit (17.18 degrees Celsius), according to the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction, making it the hottest day on Earth since at least 1979. Cities across the U.S. — from Medford, Oregon to Tampa, Florida — have been hovering at record highs, according to the National Weather Service. However, while any record may be “preliminary” until approved by official climate bodies, “it is an indication that climate change is reaching into uncharted territory,” an expert tells the Associated Press.
- The United Nations’ weather agency is warning governments to prepare for record-breaking heat now that El Niño has officially begun.
By Jessica Hartogs, Editor at LinkedIn News
World registers hottest day since records began — with fresh highs expected in the coming weeks
- The world’s average temperature climbed to its highest level since records began on Tuesday, according to provisional data from U.S. researchers.
- Scientists warned Tuesday’s temperature record was likely to be the first of many over the coming months, citing the combination of the climate crisis and the El Niño phenomenon.
- It follows a series of mind-bending extreme weather events across the globe in recent months.
The world’s average temperature climbed to its highest level since records began, according to provisional data from U.S. researchers, underscoring the pressing need to slash greenhouse gas emissions fueling the climate emergency.
The planet’s average daily temperature climbed to 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, an unofficial tool that is often used by climate scientists as a reference to the world’s condition.
“Monday, July 3rd was the hottest day ever recorded on Planet Earth. A record that lasted until … Tuesday, July 4th,” said Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London, via Twitter.
“Totally unprecedented and terrifying,” he added.
Scientists warned Tuesday’s temperature record was likely to be the first of many over the coming months, citing the combination of the climate crisis and the El Niño phenomenon.
“Do you remember yesterday’s global surface air temperature record? It just got shattered again,” climate researcher Leon Simons also said via Twitter.
Researchers have also recently sounded the alarm over rapidly rising temperatures on land and sea.
‘An unfamiliar world’
“Global warming is leading us into an unfamiliar world,” said Robert Rohde, a physicist and lead scientist at the nonprofit environmental data analysis group Berkeley Earth.
Citing the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, Rohde said via Twitter on Tuesday that though the data only stretches back to 1979, other data sets looking further back show that the recent temperature record was warmer than any point since instrumental measurements began, “and probably for a long time before that as well.”
The World Meteorological Organization on Tuesday said the return of the phenomenon paves the way for a likely spike in global temperatures and extreme weather conditions.
El Niño — or “the little boy” in Spanish — is widely recognized as the warming of the sea surface temperature, a naturally occurring climate pattern which happens on average every two to seven years.
The effects of El Niño tend to peak during December, but the impact typically takes time to spread across the globe. This lagged effect is why forecasters believe 2024 could be the first year that humanity surpasses 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
The 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold is the aspirational global temperature limit set in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement. Its importance is widely recognized because so-called tipping points become more likely beyond this level. Tipping points are thresholds at which small changes can lead to dramatic shifts in Earth’s entire life-support system.
BY Sam Meredith CNBC
