Earth marks 2 hottest days on record
The Earth this week marked an alarming climate milestone: Sunday and Monday were the planet’s hottest days on record, according to preliminary data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
The globe’s average temperature of 17.09 degrees Celsius, or 62.76 degrees Fahrenheit, logged on July 21, was the highest since at least 1940.
“We are now in truly uncharted territory,” said Copernicus Climate Change Service director Carlos Buontempo in a statement Tuesday.
The record stood for just one day. The European climate monitor reported Wednesday that global temperatures on July 22 averaged 17.15 degrees Celsius, or 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit. The next days could bring higher temperatures, with possible further fluctuations in following weeks.
“As the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years,” Buontempo said.
Some parts of California faced record warm conditions on July 21. Palmdale (Los Angeles County) logged an average temperature of 91, the highest for the date going back to 1934. Barstow-Daggett Airport in San Bernardino County tallied an average of 98 degrees, the highest for July 21 since records began in 1948.
The sweltering day came during a month on pace to be the hottest July on record in portions of the state.
The entire planet has experienced record-breaking warmth for over a year. “What is truly staggering is how large the difference is between the temperature of the last 13 months and the previous temperature records,” Buontempo said.
Temperatures thus far in 2024 are well above the planet’s warmest years on record, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data — including 2023.
“Temperatures during 2023 likely exceed those of any period in at least the last 100,000 years,” said Copernicus Climate Change Service deputy director Samantha Burgess, in a statement in January.
The 13 consecutive months of record global heat ties for the longest such streak in modern record, according to NOAA.
The agency’s latest global annual temperature outlook calls for a 59% chance that 2024 will be the warmest year on record.