European experts make it official. July was hottest month on record

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BRUSSELS: Now that July’s sizzling numbers are all in, the European climate monitoring organisation made it official: July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month on record by a wide margin. July’s global average temperature of 16.95C was a third of a degree celsius higher than the previous record set in 2019, Copernicus Climate Change Service, a division of the European Union’s space programme, announced Tuesday. Normally global temperature records are broken by hundredths or a tenth of a degree, so this margin is unusual.

“These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events,” said Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess. There have been deadly heat waves in the Southwestern US and Mexico, Europe and Asia. Scientific studies put the blame on human-caused climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.
Days in July have been hotter than previously recorded from July 2 on. It’s been so extra warm that Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organisation made the unusual early announcement that it was likely the hottest month days before it ended. Tuesday’s calculations made it official. The month was 1.5C warmer than pre-industrial times. Last month was so hot, it was .7C hotter than the average July from 1991 to 2020, Copernicus said. The worlds oceans were half a degree celsius warmer than the previous 30 years and the North Atlantic was 1.05C hotter than average. Antarctica set record lows for sea ice, 15% below average for this time of year. Copernicus’ records go back to 1940.