Sunday, July 21, was the hottest day ever recorded, according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Union, which has been monitoring global climate patterns since 1940.
The global average air temperature at the surface on Sunday reached 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit) – slightly above the previous record set last July of 17.08 C (62.74 F).
Every month since June 2023 has been classified as the hottest on the planet since records began, compared to the corresponding month in previous years.
Some scientists suggest that 2024 could surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record, as climate change and the El Niño weather phenomenon – which ended in April – have further increased temperatures this year.
Uninhabitable Places
An article from NASA highlighted that some regions of the planet —including Brazil— may become uninhabitable by 2070 due to rising temperatures.
In the article “Too Hot to Handle: How Climate Change May Make Some Places Too Hot to Live,” NASA maps out the regions of the planet where climate change will have the greatest impact over the next 50 years, emphasizing how they “may make some places too hot to live,” meaning they could reach a ‘wet bulb temperature’ of 35ºC. Wet bulb temperature is used as a standard to measure heat and humidity. According to the study, this is the highest wet bulb temperature that humans can survive when exposed for at least six hours.
Sources: Reuters and UOL