The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported on Monday that global temperatures reached a record level at the beginning of July this year. This follows a record-hot June and a year marked by severe droughts in Europe, extreme heatwaves in the US and China, and the intensifying interaction between climate change and El Nino weather patterns.
The WMO highlighted that temperature records were being broken on both land and sea, resulting in devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment.
Provisional data on global temperature records indicated that on July 7, the average global temperature was 17.24°C, surpassing the previous record of 16.94°C set on August 16, 2016. It is worth noting that 2016 was also a strong El Nino year.
El Nino is expected to further contribute to the heat, both on land and in the oceans, leading to more extreme temperatures and marine heatwaves. The WMO Director of Climate Services, Prof. Christopher Hewitt, expressed concern about the situation, stating that more records are likely to be broken as El Nino develops further, and its impacts will extend into 2024.
Michael Sparrow, chief of the world climate research program at the WMO, emphasized that the effects of El Nino would become more pronounced towards the end of the year.
According to Europe’s climate monitoring service Copernicus, last week witnessed historic high global temperatures, the hottest since records began in 1940, with Thursday being the hottest day.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the current situation demonstrates that climate change is spiraling out of control.
Certain regions, including parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Asia, and eastern Australia, experienced significant temperature increases compared to normal patterns. However, some areas such as western Australia, the western US, and western Russia were cooler than average.
These elevated temperatures have resulted in various health issues, including heatstroke, dehydration, and cardiovascular strain.
A recent study published in the journal Nature Medicine revealed that Europe’s exceptionally hot summer in 2022 led to over 61,000 heat-related fatalities. The majority of deaths occurred among individuals aged 80 or above, and approximately 63 percent of the victims were women.
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