July confirmed as the hottest month on record

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

August 14, 2023 – July has been confirmed as the hottest month ever recorded globally. This is according to the European Union’s climate observatory.

The month was 0.33 degrees Celsius higher than the record set in July of 2019 when the average temperature was 16.63 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit), the observatory said.

This temperature brought new levels of warmth as expressed by Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, who said, “It has not been this warm, combining observational records and paleoclimate records, for the last 120,000 years.”

She highlighted that the global average for July is confirmed as the highest ever recorded for any month, pointing out that it “is estimated to have been around 1.5 degrees warmer than the average for 1850 to 1900,” adding that it was also warmer than the 1991-2020 average for the month.

This is no surprise as heatwaves have been frequent globally.

In fact, these heat waves over the years have become more severe. Since the late 1800s, 1.2 degrees Celsius of global warming due to various factors such as the burning of fossil fuels is to blame and it has led to the intensifying of other weather phenomena such as storms and floods.

Considering this, according to the observatory, “Heatwaves were experienced in multiple regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including southern Europe. Well-above average temperatures occurred over several South American countries and around much of Antarctica.”

Additionally, ocean temperatures also rose to 20.96 degrees Celsius on July 30th, as revealed by the observatory’s data, up from the previous record of 20.95 degrees Celsius in March of 2016 according to a spokeswoman for Copernicus Climate Change Service.

It is important to note that these temperatures are dangerous for all living things as pointed out by Burgees.

She said, “These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events,” adding that, “2023 is currently the third warmest year to date at 0.43C above the recent average, with the average global temperature in July at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.”

She continued to highlight that these revelations only further shine light on the need to take stronger actions to combat global warming.

“Even if this is only temporary, it shows the urgency for ambitious efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main driver behind these records,” she maintained.