EU researchers: Global heat record for second day in a row

This is the record for global average temperature during one day. The margins are small, but preliminary figures from the climate monitoring service C3S indicate that a new record was set on Sunday, and then again on Monday.

The record was initially just over a year old. In July last year, it was beaten four days in a row.

Tens of thousands of years

C3S has daily global average temperature statistics going back to 1940. But it is possible that we have to go back a lot further to find a warmer day than Monday 22 July 2024.

Climate scientist Karsten Haustein at the University of Leipzig tells Reuters that this may have been the hottest day in tens of thousands of years.

Man-made global warming is causing heat records to be set more often than before. In addition, 2023 and parts of 2024 have been characterized by the natural weather phenomenon El Niño, which tends to give temperatures around the world a temporary boost.

According to EU researchers’ calculations, the global average temperature on Monday was 17.15 degrees – 0.06 degrees higher than the record level the day before.

– It will get hotter and hotter

In recent days, parts of Europe, Japan, China and Indonesia have been affected by heat waves. The USA and Russia have also been affected in recent weeks.

Haustein says it is very surprising that the global heat record has been broken again, even though El Niño is now over.

However, researcher Joyce Kimutai at Imperial College London points out that ever-rising temperatures are as expected since emissions of greenhouse gases continue.

– It will continue to get warmer until we stop burning fossil energy and achieve net zero emissions, she says.

The monthly global average temperature has been at record high levels since June last year, according to C3S. Since then, all months have been exceptionally warm, and last year’s June record was beaten in June this year.