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Rabat – July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, the European Union’s climate observatory, the Copernicus Climate Change Service, reported on Tuesday.
The report paints a grim picture of the planet’s rapidly warming climate, revealing that the global average temperature for this month reached unprecedented heights and surpassed any temperature reading ever documented.
With an increase of 0.72°C above the 1991-2020 average for July, last month surpassed the previous warmest month, July 2019, by 0.33°C.
The report’s most concerning finding, however, is the comparison to the average temperatures during the period between 1850 and 1900. July 2023’s temperature has surged approximately 1.5°C above this historical average, highlighting the severity of climate change.
Regions across the Northern Hemisphere bore the brunt of this heat wave, particularly Southern Europe, whose population experienced devastating heat waves.
The effects of this record-breaking heat extended their reach even to the icy expanse of Antarctica and multiple countries in South America.
The report further underlined the growing impact of climate change on the oceans. July 2023 witnessed global average sea surface temperatures reaching unprecedented levels, recording a 0.51°C increase above the 1991-2020 average.
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The North Atlantic, a region of critical importance to oceanic and atmospheric dynamics, faced a startling rise of 1.05°C above average temperatures for the month.
The revelation serves as an alarming wake-up call that stresses the urgency of addressing the mounting threat of climate change.
Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, Samantha Burgess spoke of the implications of these unprecedented temperature records, warning that they have “dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events.”
The sobering reality is that 2023 is currently the third-warmest year on record, with temperatures reaching 0.43°C above recent averages, she noted.
This serves as a stark reminder of the “urgency for ambitious efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main driver behind these records,” Burgess concluded.
