July 2023 is set to be the hottest month globally on record says United Nations
Thu 27 July 2023
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The United Nations says that the first three weeks of July have been the hottest ever recorded and the month overall is likely to be the same. The UN says the records are a result of heatwaves in large parts of North America, Asia and Europe, which along with wildfires in countries including Canada and Greece, have had major impacts on people’s health, the environment and economies.
Scientists say that it's unequivocal that humans are responsible for creating emissions that have resulted in the high temperatures.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “climate change is out of control... If we persist in delaying key measures that are needed, I think we are moving into a catastrophic situation."
On July 6, the daily average global mean surface air temperature surpassed the record set in August 2016, making it the hottest day on record, with July 5 and July 7 shortly behind.
Global mean temperature temporarily exceeded the 1.5° Celsius threshold above preindustrial level during the first and third week of the month (within observational error). Since May, the global average sea surface temperature has also been well above previously observed values for the time of the year; contributing to the exceptionally warm July.
The UN said: "It is extremely likely that July 2023 will be the hottest July and also the hottest month on record, following on from the hottest June on record".
The World Meteorological Organisation predicts that there is a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years will be the warmest on record and a 66% chance of temporarily exceeding 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 average for at least one of the five years.
Photo: Unsplash, Ross Stone (https://unsplash.com/@rs2photography)
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