Last month was globally the second hottest month on record, with the world’s hottest day on record registered, prompting fresh warnings from climate scientists.
Globally, July 22 was the hottest day, with July 23 a virtual tie, beating the previous hottest day of July 6, 2023, according to the latest monthly data bulletin from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
Last month’s average surface air temperature was 16.91C — some 0.68C above the 1991-2020 average for July — with the daily global-average temperature hitting 17.16C and 17.15C on July 22 and 23.
The average European temperature for the month was 1.49C above the 1991-2020 average for the month, making it the second warmest July on record for Europe after July 2010.
And the data indicates that it is increasingly likely that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record.
India had its second warmest July on record, with minimum overnight temperatures the warmest on record since 1901.
Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran both suffered repeated heatwaves, with the heat forcing the closure of schools in Pakistan.
Bahrain recorded its hottest July on record (since 1902), with a mean monthly temperature of 37.4C – 2.3C above the long-term normal for July.
In Africa, Morocco experienced two consecutive heatwaves with record temperatures in July, with the second heatwave, from July 22 to 25, particularly intense, with temperatures reaching 41.7C in Nouasseur and 47.6C in Marrakech.
In the USA, some 165m people, about half its population, were under heat alerts by August 1, with more than 80 temperature records set, including an average monthly temperature of 42.5C measured at Furnace Creek/Death Valley — a record for the site and possibly the world. The highest daily temperature ever recorded there was 56.7C on July 10, 1913.
Las Vegas also set a new record of 43 consecutive days with maximum temperature of 40.5C or higher.
European temperatures were mostly above average over southern and eastern Europe, with the UN’s World Meteorological Organization pointing out that many areas of the Mediterranean and Balkans were gripped by extended heatwaves last month, causing casualties and impacting public health.
One study by World Weather Attribution scientists said the Mediterranean heatwave, which affected Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and Morocco, would not have occurred without human induced climate change.
In Spain, the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona, registered a new record maximum temperature of 40C, while in France, the first heatwave of the year impacting the well-being of athletes and spectators at the Paris Olympics.
The reasons for the spike in high temperatures is being analysed but it’s believed one of the contributing factors was much above-average temperatures over large parts of Antarctica.
WMO Secretary general Celeste Saulo said widespread, intense and extended heatwaves have hit every continent in the past year.
“At least 10 countries have recorded daily temperatures of more than 50C in more than one location. This is becoming too hot to handle,” she said.
“Death Valley in California registered a record average monthly temperature of 42.5C (108.5 F) — possibly a new record observed for anywhere in the world. Even the remote frozen ice sheets of Antarctica have been feeling the heat.
“Climate adaptation alone is not enough. We need to tackle the root cause and get serious about reducing record levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
