EU scientists say July was world's hottest on record

The European Union's climate observatory confirmed Tuesday (August 8) that July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. The agency issued a warning of dire consequences. This comes after last month's alert that it was on track to become the world's hottest month on record.

The world is witnessing extreme climatic conditions as some regions are battered with heavy rains and subsequent floods, and other parts of the world are facing extreme heat.

Meanwhile, Samantha Burgess, who is Deputy Director of the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, said: "It has not been this warm, combining observational records and paleoclimate records, for the last 120,000 years."

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"The global average temperature for July 2023 is confirmed to be the highest on record for any month -- the month is estimated to have been around 1.5 degrees warmer than the average for 1850 to 1900," said Burgess.

The official report noted that ERA5 data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service shows that July 2023 was the hottest month on record globally and broke several records within the month.

This comes after the hottest June on record and a series of extreme weather events, including heatwaves in Europe, North America and Asia, and wildfires in Canada and Greece.

According to the report, the month started with the daily global mean surface air temperature record being broken for four days in a row, from July 3-6.

It further mentioned that all days throughout the rest of July were hotter than the previous record of 16.80°C, set on 13 August 2016, making the 29 days from July 3-31 the hottest 29 days on record.

The hottest day was July 6, when the global average temperature reached 17.08°C, and the values recorded onJuly 5 and 7 were within 0.01°C of this.

According to the report by Copernicus Climate Change Service, temperatures also temporarily exceeded the 1.5°C threshold above the preindustrial level during the first and third weeks of the month.

As quoted, Carlo Buontempo, Director of C3S, comments: "Record-breaking temperatures are part of the trend of drastic increases in global temperatures. Anthropogenic emissions are ultimately the main driver of these rising temperatures."

Buontempo added, "July's record is unlikely to remain isolated this year, C3S' seasonal forecasts indicate that over land areas temperatures are likely to be well above average."

(With inputs from agencies)

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