Climate crisis: Heat records topple across the globe

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) – July 3 and 4 have gone down in history as the hottest days ever recorded worldwide, while June has been confirmed as the planet’s warmest sixth month on record.

The global average temperature on July 4 reached 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit), beating the previous record of 17.01C (62.6F) set just a day earlier.

That was followed by a damning analysis from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service that said last month was the hottest ever by a “substantial margin,” shattering the previous record set in 2019.

The EU monitor reported that ocean surface temperatures were also the warmest on record last month, primarily because of rising heat in the North Atlantic and a fierce El Nino in the Pacific.

These are just the latest in the list of unwanted temperature records being set across the globe.

Several countries in Asia have experienced searing temperatures over the course of 2023, breaking all-time national records.

Thailand had its hottest day in history on April 15 as mercury levels soared to 45.4C (114F), while the city of Luang Prabang in neighboring Laos sweltered at 43.5C (110.3F) in May.

Temperatures soared to a record 44.1C (111.38F) in Vietnam’s Hoi Xuan that same month, the warmest in its history and surpassing the country’s previous record of 43.4C (110.3F) set in 2019.

Cambodia also saw a new national record in May, with a scorching reading of 41.6C (106.9F) in the Kratie province and the southern district of Ponhea Kraek.

Singapore matched its all-time temperature record in May, hitting 37C (98.6F) for the first time after four decades.

In June, Beijing’s temperature spiked above 40C (104F) for the first time since 2014.

The mercury climbed to 40.7C (105.3F) at a weather station in the southern suburbs of Beijing, surpassing the previous all-time high of 40.6C recorded on June 10, 1961.

China’s National Climate Center also recently said the country has been experiencing its hottest days in six decades, with temperatures reaching up to 40C (104F).

- Europe’s weather woes

According to a recent report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Europe has been warming faster than any other continent in recent decades, with temperatures rising at twice the global average rate.

The UK just sweltered through its hottest June since records began in 1884.

The average monthly temperature of 15.8C (60.4F) exceeded the previous highest average June temperature, recorded in 1940 and 1976, by 0.9C.

The UK’s mean temperature for the month was some 2.5C higher than average, according to the Met Office.

Iberian neighbors Spain and Portugal faced their hottest April on record this year.

Along with Morocco and Algeria, they had temperatures that were up to 20 degrees higher than normal in April, according to World Weather Attribution.

The four countries experienced temperatures as high as 36.9C (98.4F) to 41C (105.8 F).

The study said the record-breaking temperatures were made 100 times more likely by human-caused climate change, and would have been almost impossible in the past.

According to data collected by Maximiliano Herrera, a meteorologist who focuses on climate data, at least eight European countries recorded their hottest January day this year, including Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia.

In Korbielow, Poland, the temperature jumped to 19C (66F), significantly higher than its annual average for January. In other parts of the continent, local records were broken at thousands of measuring stations, Herrera said.

The WMO predicts that global temperatures will rise to records levels in the next five years due to an increase in greenhouse gases and El Nino weather events.

It is highly probable, with a 66% likelihood, that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.

Additionally, there is a 98% likelihood that one of the upcoming five years and the entire five-year period will be the warmest on record, according to the agency.​​​​​​​