July 21 hottest day ever recorded globally: EU climate monitor

Paris (AFP): July 21 was the hottest day ever registered globally, according to preliminary data published on Tuesday by the EU’s climate monitor.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said the global average surface air temperature of 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.7 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday was the warmest in their record books, which go back to 1940.

“The Earth has just experienced its warmest day,” the monitor said in a statement.

The new daily high was just 0.01C above the previous record temperature of 17.08C registered on July 6, 2023.

“On July 21st, C3S recorded a new record for the daily global mean temperature,” said C3S director Carlo Buontempo in a statement.

“We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years,” he added.

Copernicus said the daily record could be breached again in coming days before temperatures are expected to drop off, though there could be fluctuations in the weeks ahead.

Every month since June 2023 has eclipsed its own temperature record, and the latest daily high comes as heatwaves bake parts of the United States and Europe.