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July 3rd is recorded as the hottest day ever globally, according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) in the United States.
Amidst a series of heatwaves erupting worldwide, the NCEP calculated the global average temperature on July 3rd to be 17.01°C, surpassing the previous record set in August 2016 at 16.92°C.
The southern United States has been enduring intense heatwaves in recent weeks. In China, a prolonged heatwave with temperatures above 35°C has occurred. Meanwhile, North Africa has recorded temperatures close to 50°C.
Even the Antarctic, a region currently in winter, has experienced unusually high temperatures. The Vernadsky Research Base in Ukraine, located on the continent, recorded the highest July temperature in history at 8.7°C.
“This is not a milestone we should celebrate,” said Friederike Otto, a climate expert from the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London. “This is a death sentence for humans and ecosystems.”
Scientists attribute this phenomenon to climate change combined with El Niño.
“This may just be the first milestone, opening the door to a series of new records this year as carbon emissions and greenhouse gases increase, along with the impact of El Niño,” said Zeke Hausfather, a researcher from the Berkeley Earth environmental research center in California, USA.
