Monday, July 22 has been identified as the hottest day on record, surpassing the previous record set just the day before, according to preliminary data from a European Union monitoring agency. The global average surface air temperature reached 17.15 degrees Celsius, which is 0.06 degrees higher than the record set on Sunday, July 21, as reported by the Copernicus Climate Change Service. This service has been monitoring these patterns since 1940. The record had been set for four consecutive days earlier in July 2023, and before that, the hottest day was recorded in August 2016.
Climate scientist Karsten Haustein from Leipzig University in Germany noted that this past Monday might have marked a new global record for the warmest absolute global average temperature ever, extending back tens of thousands of years. In recent days, cities in Japan, Indonesia, and China have experienced record heat, while Gulf countries have endured heat indexes, which include humidity, exceeding 60 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, temperatures in parts of Europe have soared past 45 degrees Celsius. Scientists attribute these records to climate change, which is driven by the burning of fossil fuels. However, unlike last year, which saw climate change combined with the El Nino climate pattern to set a new daily record, this July does not have that additional factor.
Haustein remarked that it was "remarkable" that the record was broken now, as the world is in neutral territory and no longer feeling the impact of El Nino.
