World registers hottest day recorded on July 21, monitor says

23 July 2024 - 14:02 By Gloria Dickie
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A woman wipes sweat from her face as she sits near the Fontana della Barcaccia at the Spanish Steps amid a heatwave in Rome, Italy, on June 20 2024.
A woman wipes sweat from her face as she sits near the Fontana della Barcaccia at the Spanish Steps amid a heatwave in Rome, Italy, on June 20 2024.
Image: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Sunday July 21 was the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to preliminary data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The global average surface air temperature on Sunday reached 17.09°C — slightly higher than the previous record set last July of 17.08°C.

Heatwaves have scorched large swathes of the US, Europe and Russia over the past week.

Copernicus confirmed to Reuters the record daily temperature average set last year appeared to have been broken on Sunday, in its records which extend back to 1940.

Last year saw four days in a row break the record, from July 3 to July 6, as climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, drove extreme heat across the northern hemisphere.

Every month since June 2023 — 13 months in a row — has now ranked as the planet's hottest since records began, compared with the corresponding month in previous years, Copernicus said.

Some scientists have suggested 2024 could outrank 2023 as the hottest year since records began, as climate change and the El Nino natural weather phenomenon — which ended in April — have pushed temperatures higher this year.

Reuters


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