The hottest day on Earth was recorded on July 3. The Hill reported citing the data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
On July 3, the average global air temperature 2 meters above the planet’s surface touched 62.62 degrees Fahrenheit or 17.01 degrees Celsius, according to the data analysed by the University of Maine.
Taking to Twitter, Robert Rohde, of the University of California, Berkeley, on July 4 (Local time) said, “NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) has placed Earth’s average temperature yesterday as the hottest single day thus far measured by humans. This is driven by the combination of El Nino on top of global warming, and we may well see a few even warmer days over the next 6 weeks.”
According to NOAA, El Nino means Little Boy in Spanish. South American fishermen first noticed periods of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean in the 1600s. The full name they used was El Nino de Navidad because El Nino typically peaks around December.
El Nino can affect our weather significantly. The warmer waters cause the Pacific jet stream to move south of its neutral position. With this shift, areas in the northern US and Canada are dryer and warmer than usual. But in the US Gulf Coast and Southeast, these periods are wetter than usual and have increased flooding.
Robert Rohde also warned that humanity should expect more scorching temperatures over the next month and a half, as per The Hill. The Hill is an American newspaper and digital media company based in Washington, DC.
Monday’s temperatures beat the previous record set in July 2022 and August 2016 of 62.46 degrees Fahrenheit or 16.92 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, the University of Maine scientists at the Climate Reanalyzer project stated that the temperature records surpassed July 3 and 4 in Quebec and North Western Canada and Peru.
Cities across the US, from Medford, Oregon to Tampa, Florida have been hovering at all-time highs, said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Beijing reported 9 straight days last week when the temperature exceeded 35 C (95 F), The Hill reported.
This global record is preliminary, pending approval from gold-standard climate measurements entities like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. But it is an indication that climate change is reaching into uncharted territory. It legitimately captures global-scale heating and NOAA will take these figures into consideration when it does its official record calculations, said Deke Arndt, director of the National Center for Environmental Information, a division of NOAA, as per The Hill.
(with inputs from ANI)
