According to Copernicus‘ provisional satellite data released on Wednesday, Monday, July 22, 2024, was 0.06 degrees Celsius (0.1 degree Fahrenheit) hotter than Sunday.
Climate scientists suggest this could be the warmest it has been in 120,000 years due to human-induced climate change.
Monday marked a historic peak in global temperatures, surpassing the previous day’s record. As reported by the European Climate Change Service, countries worldwide felt the heat.
Although scientists cannot confirm Monday as the absolute hottest day in that entire period, average temperatures have not been this high since well before humans started farming.
The recent rise in temperatures aligns with projections made by climate scientists, foreseeing such occurrences if humans continued to burn fossil fuels at an accelerating pace.
Copernicus’ preliminary findings indicate Monday’s global average temperature was 17.15 degrees Celsius (62.87 degrees Fahrenheit).
The previous record was set just a year ago. Before then, the hottest recorded day was in 2016, with average temperatures reaching 16.8 degrees Celsius (62.24 degrees Fahrenheit).
While 2024 has been exceptionally warm, a hot Antarctic winter pushed this week into uncharted territory, according to Copernicus. A similar phenomenon occurred on the southern continent last year when the record was set in early July.
Copernicus has data dating back to 1940, while U.S. and U.K. government measurements started in 1880.
Many scientists, considering these records alongside tree rings and ice cores, argue that last year’s highs represented the warmest the planet has been in roughly 120,000 years. The first half of 2024 has now surpassed even those records.
Scientists stress that without human-induced climate change, extreme temperature records would not be broken nearly as frequently as in recent years.
They find it remarkable that such high temperatures occurred in consecutive years, especially after the natural El Nino warming of the central Pacific Ocean ended earlier this year.
Across Africa, countries have been enduring severe and unusually prolonged heatwaves, with temperatures approaching 50 degrees Celsius.
The extreme heat has caused widespread devastation, triggering droughts in Morocco, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
