2023-08-02 06:30:28
July 2023 is the hottest month on record. And the heat waves seen across the northern hemisphere would have been nearly impossible without climate change, says a World Weather Attribution study.
July 2023 broke many heat records. According analysis According to Karsten Haustein, a climatologist at the University of Leipzig, the average global temperature for this month is expected to be 1.3 to 1.7°C higher than the average temperature for July in the pre-industrial era. This is 0.2°C (+/-0.1°C) higher than the previous record set in July 2019. This record month of July comes following an equally unprecedented month of June.
Karsten Haustein reacts: “Not only will July be the hottest month, but the hottest month on record in terms of absolute global average temperature. We may have to go back thousands or even tens of thousands of years to find such warm conditions on our planet. »
Heat waves due to climate change
Throughout the month, heat waves hit southern Europe, parts of the United States and China. On July 31, the city of Phoenix in Arizona recorded its 31st consecutive day at over 43°C. In Beijing, it was over 35°C for 27 days. On the night of July 16 to 17, it was 49.9°C in Death Valley in the United States. And on July 16, China also broke a record, the thermometer reaching 52.2°C in Xinjiang (west).
Climate change has made heat waves hotter, longer and more frequent. These heat waves in Europe and the United States would have been “virtually impossible without climate change”estimates a rapid attribution study by World Weather Attribution (WWA) scientists. The heat wave in China, for its part, was made “at least 50 times more likely” by climate change, according to the analysis.
“Such events can now occur regarding once every 15 years in North America, regarding once every 10 years in southern Europe, and regarding once every five years in China.”, warn the WWA researchers. And it is likely to get worse if greenhouse gas emissions are not quickly halted and the world moves away from carbon neutrality, scientists warn. In a world at +2°C, “such events will become even more frequent, occurring every 2-5 years”.
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