Rama Krishna Sangem
For those of us, living in Hyderabad, India, 17 C degrees temperature may be very mild. But, for the average global day temperature wise, this is the hottest, in the recorded history of Mother Earth.
On July 5, Wednesday, the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, which uses data from the United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction, indicated that the global average air temperature was the highest ever at recorded – 17.01°C– on June 3 based on various datasets they analysed.
Monday marked a grim milestone for Earth – it was, on average, the hottest day ever recorded, however, the record lasted only for a day as it was broken again on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday, underscoring the incredible pace at which the human-induced climate crisis is spreading over the planet.
Above the average since 1979
Since June 5, the global average air temperature has been mostly above the average recorded since 1979, when satellite record-keeping started. On July 3, 4 and 5, it may have been on uncharted territory.
On Wednesday, the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, which uses data from the United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction, indicated that the global average air temperature was the highest ever at recorded – 17.01°C– on July 3 based on various data sets they analysed.
But on July 4, the record was broken again taking it to 17.18°C, around 0.98°C above the mean for 1979 to 2000.
Incidentally, after Tuesday’s record was broken, Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment had predicted that the record may not stand for long.
“This is not a milestone we should be celebrating, it’s a death sentence for people and ecosystems. And worryingly, it won’t be the hottest day for a long time. With El Niño developing, the world will likely break this record again in the coming months. We absolutely need to stop burning fossil fuels,” she said.
Scientists, however, warn that the coming few weeks would likely be even hotter. “So it is likely still that we may see this record broken again this summer, maybe even multiple times,” they said.
Copernicus Programme of the EU said on Thursday that this June was the warmest globally at over 0.5°C above the 1991-2020 average, exceeding June 2019 – the previous record – by a substantial margin. Record June temperatures were experienced across northwest Europe. Parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Asia, and eastern Australia were significantly warmer than normal.
Exceptionally warm sea surface temperatures were recorded in the North Atlantic; extreme marine heatwaves were observed around Ireland, the UK and in the Baltic Sea while El Niño continued to strengthen over the tropical eastern Pacific.
