July 2023 could be hottest month in 120,000 years
July is set to be the hottest month on record and possibly in 120,000 years after heatwaves on three continents, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said.
The first three weeks of July have been the warmest three-week period on record and the month is set to break records “by a significant margin”, according to data from the EU’s Copernicus service.
Parts of the US and China have experienced temperatures above 50C, while Europe has battled wildfires during an intense heatwave and highs of 45C.
The temperatures have been driven in part by record-breaking global average sea surface temperatures since May.
Meanwhile, Antarctic sea ice has hit record lows this year, and is below average for this time of year.
“The extreme weather which has affected many millions of people in July is unfortunately the harsh reality of climate change and a foretaste of the future,” said Professor Petteri Taalas, the secretary-general of the WMO.
The role of climate change in the heatwaves is “absolutely overwhelming” according to an assessment by scientists this week that has not yet been peer-reviewed.
The naturally occurring El Nino may also have played a role, although its warming impact is not expected to come into full effect until the end of this year.
The heat has led to calls for urgent adaptation to rising temperatures, with the prime minister of Greece, which has been worst hit by wildfires, saying climate change “cannot be an excuse” for poor fire prevention.
Hundreds of people are known to have died during hot weather this year, including more than 100 in Mexico, and at least 34 in Algeria.
July 6 was the hottest day on record, breaking temperature records set in 2016, with a global mean temperature of 17.08C.
Of the 30 hottest days ever recorded, 21 of them have been during this month and the WMO said it would set a new record for July “by a significant margin”.
A separate reanalysis of the data by Dr Karsten Haustein, a climate scientist from Leipzig University, suggests that this July could be the hottest month on Earth in 120,000 years.
Global mean temperatures temporarily exceeded 1.5C in July 2023, although this does not mean that we have passed the threshold for limiting warming set by a global agreement, which is based on long term averages.
The world has warmed approximately 1.2C since the industrial era, and is projected to continue to between 2.5C and 3C by the end of the century, if governments follow through on their pledges to cut emissions.
More than three-quarters of British people believe climate change to be a serious threat, according to a poll on Thursday from Ipsos Mori.
That includes 25 per cent of the population who believe that climate change is now “out of control”.
But the numbers are down from the 84 per cent who felt it was a serious issue last July when the UK had record-breaking temperatures, compared to the mild and rainy conditions this year.
