Marked by heat waves and fires all over the world, the previous month was 0.33 degrees Celsius higher than the record set in July 2019 when the average temperature was 16.63 ° C (32 degrees Fahrenheit), a- he declared.
“The month was 0.72°C warmer than the July 1991-2020 average,” he said.
About 1.2 degrees Celsius of global warming since the late 1800s, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, has made heat waves hotter, longer and more frequent, while intensifying other extreme weather events like storms and floods.
“Heat waves were recorded in several regions of the northern hemisphere, including southern Europe. Well above average temperatures occurred in several countries in South America and around a large part of Antarctica,” said the EU climate observatory Copernicus.
“The global average for 2023 is the third highest on record, at 0.43C from 1991-2020, compared to 0.49C for 2016 and 0.48C for 2020. The gap between 2023 and 2016 is expected to narrow. reduce in the coming months as the last few months of 2016 have been relatively cool…while the remainder of 2023 is expected to be relatively warm as the El Niño event develops.”
Scientists had warned that July could hit a new high.
The world’s oceans have also set a new temperature record, raising concerns about the ripple effects on the planet’s climate, marine life and coastal communities.
The ocean surface temperature reached 20.96 degrees Celsius (69.7 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 30, according to data from the European Union Climate Observatory.
The previous record was 20.95°C in March 2016, a spokeswoman for the Copernicus Climate Change Service told AFP earlier.
The samples tested excluded the polar regions.
‘Disastrous consequences’
“We just saw global air temperatures and global ocean surface temperatures set new all-time highs in July. These records have dire consequences for people and the planet exposed to ever-increasing extreme events. frequent and intense,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the EU’s Copernicus climate change service.
“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 only temporary, it shows the urgency of ambitious efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main driver of these records,” she said.
Wildfires have ravaged swaths of Greece and scorched 30 million acres (12 million hectares) in Canada, while southern Europe, parts of North Africa, southern United States and pockets of China were reeling from a punishing heat wave.
The deadly rains that hit the Chinese capital Beijing in recent days were the heaviest since records began 140 years ago.
Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus, had previously said the temperatures during the period had been “remarkable”.
Beyond these official records, he said proxy climate data going back further – such as tree rings or ice cores – suggest that temperatures observed during the period could be “unprecedented in our history over the past few thousand years”.
Perhaps even longer “on the order of 100,000 years”, he said.
UN chief Antonio Guterres recently issued an SOS appeal.
“Climate change is here. It’s terrifying. And it’s just the beginning,” Guterres said, calling for immediate and bold action to reduce planet-warming emissions.
“The era of global warming is over; the era of global boiling has arrived.”
