Heat peaks above recent record
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July 2024 appears to be the world’s fourteenth consecutive month of record-breaking heat, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The month witnessed extreme temperatures affecting hundreds of millions of people globally, underlining the severity of climate change driven by human activities.
The WMO has identified 22 July as the hottest day ever recorded, with 23 July nearly matching it.
These dates are emblematic of a broader pattern of escalating global temperatures.
“This is becoming too hot to handle,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, noting the widespread, intense heatwaves that have impacted every continent in the past year.
Countries across the globe, from Japan to Morocco, experienced unprecedented heat.
Japan recorded its highest average July temperature since 1898, with 62 of its meteorological stations logging record highs.
Similarly, China, Bahrain, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bulgaria saw their hottest July on record.
Morocco endured two consecutive heatwaves, with temperatures peaking at 47.6°C in Marrakech.
These figures show the increasing frequency and severity of extreme heat events worldwide.
The extreme heat was not confined to traditionally warm regions.
Even Antarctica, typically associated with freezing temperatures, saw average temperatures rise more than 10°C above normal in some areas.
This anomaly contributed significantly to the global temperature spike, which was exacerbated by unusually high temperatures over parts of the Southern Ocean.
Despite these efforts, Saulo says that “climate adaptation alone is not enough”, stressing the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to tackle the root cause of global warming.
In the United States, the situation was equally dire.
Nearly half of the US population was under heat alerts on 1 August. Death Valley recorded an average temperature of 42.5°C for the month, a potential world record.
This coincided with severe wildfires in Canada and the United States, exacerbated by the extreme heat and dry conditions.
South America, though in its winter season, also experienced abnormally high temperatures.
Parts of Bolivia, Paraguay, and southern Brazil saw temperatures typical of summer, with anomalies reaching 10°C above average. These unusual weather patterns further illustrate the widespread impact of climate change.
As the WMO prepares to confirm whether July continues the streak of record-breaking months, the data collected so far paints a concerning picture of the accelerating pace of climate change.