On Sunday, July 21, the world experienced its hottest day on record, according to preliminary data from the European climate observatory, Copernicus. The global average temperature reached 17.09°C, just one-hundredth of a degree (0.01°C) above the previous record set on July 6, 2023.
This new daily record comes during a heatwave affecting parts of the United States and Europe. Experts suggest that it could be surpassed again in the coming days before temperatures finally begin to decline, though fluctuations are expected in the weeks ahead.
Carlo Buontempo, the director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), expressed concern about the stark difference between recent temperatures and past records. "What is truly astonishing is the magnitude of the difference between the temperatures of the last 13 months and previous temperature records. We are now in uncharted territory, and as the climate continues to warm, we will likely see new records being broken in the months and years to come," he stated in a recent announcement.
Prior to July 2023, the previous record for the highest daily global average temperature was 16.8°C, recorded on August 13, 2016, as reported by Copernicus. Since July 3, 2023, there have been 57 days that exceeded the 2016 record.
The year 2023 has already set records related to heat, with June reported as the hottest June ever recorded, marking the thirteenth consecutive month with average temperatures surpassing those of the same months in previous years. Copernicus also revealed that the global average temperature over the past 12 months has been the "highest ever recorded," measuring 1.64°C above the pre-industrial average from 1850-1900, a time when deforestation and fossil fuel combustion had yet to begin significantly altering the Earth’s climate.
For more information about climate records and ongoing changes in global temperatures, you can visit Copernicus Climate Change Service.
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