What happened Sunday, 21 July, was the hottest day in recorded global history, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (CCCS), Europe's top climate monitoring organisation, which announced the preliminary findings yesterday.
Who said what The Earth's average temperature on Sunday was 17.09C (62.76F), "breaking a record set only last year", said The Washington Post. "We are in truly uncharted territory," said CCCS head Carlo Buontempo. "We are bound to see records being broken in future months and years."Â
Extreme heat is "nothing new," said USA Today. The Earth has seen "over 550 consecutive months with temperatures above the 20th-century average".
Still, the global temperature recorded on Sunday is "another worrying sign of how human-caused climate change is pushing the planet into dangerous new territory", said The Washington Post.
The sudden rise in global temperatures is linked to abnormal heat across Antarctica, according to the Copernicus analysis. The swift rise in temperature across the icy continent is a "trend that is alarming scientists", said CNN, given the region's ability to drive "catastrophic sea level rise".
What next? Many scientists are bracing for this year to "outrank 2023 as the hottest year since records began" due to "climate change and the El Niño natural weather phenomenon", said Reuters. |