This week, humanity experienced the hottest global temperature ever recorded, according to data from two climate monitoring agencies.
On Monday (3), the global average temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.62 Fahrenheit), the highest in data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which dates back to 1979. On Tuesday (4), it rose even further, reaching 17.18 degrees Celsius. The previous record of 16.92 degrees Celsius was set in August 2016.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Union also tweeted on Wednesday (5) that the global temperature on Monday (3) was a record in its dataset.
Experts warn that this record could be broken several times this year in the next six weeks, the summer period in the Northern Hemisphere.
This global record is another indication of how quickly the world is warming.
This year, the arrival of the natural climate phenomenon El Niño, which causes warming, adds to the warming caused by climate change.
In the United States, Texas and the South experienced a brutal heatwave in late June, with triple-digit temperatures (in Fahrenheit) and extreme humidity. High temperatures in Mexico have already killed at least 112 people since March. A severe heatwave in India has claimed at least 44 lives across the state of Bihar. China has also experienced several intense heatwaves and recorded the highest number of hot days—where the daily maximum temperature exceeded 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit)—over a six-month period since records began.
Source: CNN