According to data from the United States’ National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Monday, July 3, was the hottest day ever recorded globally.
The average global temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.62 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking the August 2016 record of 16.92 degrees Celsius (62.46 degrees Fahrenheit) as heatwaves raged around the world.
In recent weeks, the southern United States has been subjected to an extreme heat dome. In China, temperatures remained over 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). Temperatures in North Africa have reached nearly 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
Hottest day ever: “This is not a milestone we should be celebrating”
Even Antarctica, which is now in winter, has seen unusually warm temperatures. The Vernadsky Research Base in Ukraine’s Argentine Islands has set a new July temperature record of 8.7 degrees Celsius (47.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
“This is not a milestone we should be celebrating,” said climate scientist Friederike Otto of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Britain’s Imperial College London.
“It’s a death sentence for people and ecosystems.”
Climate change, along with an impending El Nino pattern, were blamed, according to scientists.
“Unfortunately, it promises to only be the first in a series of new records set this year as increasing emissions of [carbon dioxide] and greenhouse gases coupled with a growing El Nino event push temperatures to new highs,” said Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth, in a statement.