According to initial data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, Sunday, July 21 marked the hottest day ever recorded since monitoring began in 1940.
The global average surface air temperature reached 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit), slightly surpassing last July’s record of 17.08 C (62.74 F). Heatwaves affected large areas of the United States, Europe, and Russia.
Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus service, indicated that temperatures at the beginning of this week could potentially exceed Sunday’s record due to ongoing heatwaves worldwide. He noted that such temperature peaks tend to occur in clusters.
Buontempo highlighted that last year, four consecutive days in July broke temperature records, attributed to climate change driven by fossil fuel emissions. Despite Sunday’s record being only marginally higher than last year’s, Buontempo emphasized the sustained temperature differences observed over the past 13 months compared to previous records.
Since June 2023, every month has registered as the hottest globally on record for that respective month, a trend that scientists anticipate could make 2024 even hotter than 2023, given ongoing climate change and the recent conclusion of the El Niño weather phenomenon in April.
Buontempo warned that increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere will likely lead to more record-breaking temperatures in the coming months and years. Scientists and environmental advocates continue to urge global leaders and wealthy nations to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels to mitigate the devastating impacts of climate change, including intensified heatwaves.