Scientists: Earth survived the hottest day, but July could be the hottest in 120,000 years

On Monday, July 3, the average temperature on planet Earth exceeded 17 degrees Celsius, reaching an all-time record. But scientists believe that this is just the beginning and July could be the hottest July in 120,000 years.

The reason for the high temperature is a combination of the weather phenomenon El Niño and constant emissions of carbon dioxide, reports BBC. It is this phenomenon that will continue to be responsible for new temperature records.

Trouble with the weather began in fact at the beginning of 2023. Thus, the record spring heat wave in Spain and many Asian countries was accompanied by sea heat waves in places where they do not usually occur. Such waves, for example, were recorded in the North Sea.

Powerful heat waves have also recently been observed in China, in some places the temperature hit 35 degrees Celsius. The heat is also recorded by forecasters in the southern US.

Given this, it should not be surprising that the average global temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius on July 3, according to the US National Center for Environmental Prediction.

This surpassed the record for August 2016, when temperatures reached 16.92 degrees Celsius.

What is known exactly is that July 3 is the hottest day since satellite monitoring began in 1979. However, experts believe that such high temperatures have not been seen since widespread instrumental records began in the late 19th century.

A combination of the natural El Niño phenomenon and ongoing human-caused carbon dioxide emissions are responsible for this heat wave.

"The global average surface air temperature reached 17 degrees Celsius for the first time ever recorded, a significant symbolic milestone in our warming world," said climate researcher Leon Simons.

At the same time, he believes that the warm El Niño phase will also provoke new temperature records "over the next 1.5 years".

June 2023 was also the hottest June on record. The average temperature across the planet was 1.46 degrees Celsius above the average between 1850 and 1900.

The impact of high temperatures is also felt at extreme points of the planet. For example, a July temperature record of 8.7°C was broken at the Akademik Vernadsky research base in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, meteorologist and climatologist at Leipzig University Karsten Haustein suggests that several temperature records will already be broken in the northern hemisphere this summer thanks to El Niño.

"Most likely, July will be the hottest month on record: 'on record' means since the time of Emian, which is about 120,000 years ago," Haustein said.

OBOZREATEL reported earlier that climate scientists have raised concern about the air currents sweeping the Earth having changed beyond recognition. This may have catastrophic consequences in the near future.

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