Record high temperatures were recorded globally last week, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday.
“According to preliminary data, the world recorded the hottest week on record. It followed the hottest June on record with unprecedented sea surface temperatures and a record small area of Antarctic sea ice,” the WMO said in a release on its website.
According to preliminary data, the average global temperature on July 7 was 17.24 degrees Celsius. This is 0.3 degrees Celsius higher than the previous record set on August 16, 2016, that year El Niño (a natural phenomenon strongly affecting the climate in a number of world regions – IF) was particularly active. The reanalysis data has not yet been confirmed.
According to Christopher Hewitt, director of WMO’s Climate Information Division, El Niño is expected to “further fuel heatwaves both on land and in the oceans and lead to more extreme temperatures and marine heatwaves.”
“We can expect to see more temperature records as El Niño develops, with the impact of this phenomenon continuing through 2024,” he said, calling such a scenario “troubling news for the planet.”
It emphasizes that record high temperatures on land and in the ocean can have “potentially devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment.” The WMO notes that such phenomena are a consequence of climate change caused by human activity.
