New Delhi: July 3 reached the milestone of being the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to data from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The average global temperature on July 3 was recorded at 17C or 63F, compared to the previous record of 16.9C set in August 2016.
Friederike Otto, senior lecturer at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, commented on the new record: “This is not a milestone we should be celebrating, it’s a death sentence for people and ecosystems”.
Otto added that 3 July is unlikely to remain the hottest day for long, as global temperatures are expected to continue rising due to the El Niño weather phenomenon.
The World Meteorological Organization’s secretary-general, Petteri Taalas, said in a statement about the onset of El Niño: “The onset of El Niño will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records”
According to the WMO, El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years, and are bound to trigger a rise in temperatures.
Prior to the onset of the monsoon in India, which has led to a significant drop in temperatures, heat waves caused many deaths in various parts of the country. Similarly, China has been battling with a severe heatwave and temperature records have recently been broken.
A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in March said that global temperatures are likely to rise by 1.5C in the near future. The report also stated that global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to 60% below 2019 levels by 2035.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has earlier urged countries to phase out the use of fossil fuels. He previously said, “Our world needs climate action on all fronts – everything, everywhere, all at once.
