Mumbai: This Thursday July 6, 2023 was an unprecedented day in global climate history as the planet Earth experienced its hottest day ever recorded, with temperatures soaring to 17.2 degrees Celsius on average.
This came after a series of record-breaking heatwaves earlier in the week, starting Monday and continuing through Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thursday July 6 incidentally was also Aphelion Day – the day when Earth is at its farthest from the Sun. This comes once in every year, and since the Earth is farthest from the Sun, it was supposed to be cooler. But, it is not so as temperature on Earth is not directly related with its distance from the Sun.
Scientists attribute the prolonged period of sweltering heat to a combination of human-induced climate change and the influence of El Niño, a weather pattern that intensifies global warming effects.
The University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, which collects data from satellite, ship, and buoy observations, registered the extraordinary temperatures. The average global temperature on 3 July reached 17.01 degrees Celsius, surpassing the previous record set in August 2016 during an El Niño event.
The scorching heat persisted over the next two days, with temperatures peaking at 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.92 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 4th and 5th.
Although data for this specific record-breaking period only dates back to 1979, similar findings from earlier periods confirm the severity of the situation. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, which has data since 1940, also reported record-breaking temperatures this week.
Moreover, historical evidence obtained from tree ring and ice core data suggests that these temperatures may be the highest in thousands of years.
Climate scientists emphasize that urgent action is needed to address this escalating crisis. With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to rise, the likelihood of more frequent temperature records being shattered in the future is high.
“If no immediate measures are taken to reduce emissions, experts predict an alarming escalation in temperatures over the next six weeks”, they warned.
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