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Sunday, July 21, was the warmest day ever recorded, according to preliminary data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, which has tracked such global weather patterns since 1940.

The average temperature on Earth’s surface reached 17.09 degrees Celsius on Sunday, slightly higher than the previous record of 17.08 degrees Celsius set in July last year, as heat waves ravaged large parts of the United States, Europe and Russia.

Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus service, said it was possible that the beginning of this week would break Sunday’s record as heat waves continue to rage across the world.

“When you have peaks like that, they tend to clump together,” he said.

Last year, the record was broken for four days in a row, from July 3 to 6, as climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels brought extreme heat to the Northern Hemisphere.

Although Sunday’s record was only marginally higher than last year’s measurement, “it is remarkable how different the temperature of the last 13 months is compared to the previous records,” Buontempo said.

Since June 2023, every month has been considered the warmest on Earth since records began, compared with the corresponding month in previous years.

Some scientists have suggested that 2024 could surpass 2023 as the warmest year on record, as climate change and the natural weather phenomenon El Niño – which ended in April – have pushed temperatures even higher this year.

“As a result of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we will undoubtedly see new records broken in the coming months and years,” Buontempo said.

Reuters