On Wednesday, scientists announced that Tuesday had been the warmest day on record for Earth, based on preliminary and unofficial data. The previous day’s record was smashed.
This comes at a time when experts predict the Earth is experiencing its warmest conditions in about 125,000 years. According to experts, this summer will set a new record high temperature.
According to the Climate Reanalyzer at the University of Maine, which uses satellite data and computer simulations, the average temperature of Earth was 62.9 degrees on Tuesday. In that data set, that’s the hottest day since records began being kept in 1979.
Human-caused climate change, a strengthening El Nio, and the onset of summer in the Northern Hemisphere have all contributed to the abnormal temperature.
The tweet below verifies the news:
July 4th was the Earth’s hottest day on record, scientists said Wednesday. Experts believe more heat records will fall this summer. https://t.co/V7ndeGxIbk
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) July 5, 2023
Warmest in 125,000 Years?
According to Paulo Ceppi, a climate scientist at London’s Grantham Institute, “it hasn’t been this warm since at least 125,000 years ago, which was the previous interglacial,” referencing a period of unusual warmth between two ice ages. This is based on “proxy” climate data such as ice cores, tree rings, and sediments.
Burning fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal produces “greenhouse” gases like carbon dioxide and methane, which contribute to the warming trend. Over the past century, these gases have caused an increase in Earth’s temperature that exceeds the range of fluctuations due to natural causes.
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Record could be broken again
Expect another daily high temperature record to fall, possibly as soon as Wednesday. On Tuesday, Robert Rohde from Berkeley Earth predicted that the following six weeks could witness some even hotter days than the last.
According to Rohde, “other data sets let us look further back and conclude that this day was warmer than any point since instrumental measurements began, and probably for a long time before that as well,” even though the data set itself doesn’t go back further than 1979. As a result of global warming, we are entering a new and strange world.
The global record is not quite the kind often used by climate measurement authorities like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is considered the gold standard. However, it shows that climate change has entered unexplored regions.
Climate Change a Primary Factor
According to climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research in Germany, “the increasing heating of our planet caused by fossil fuel use is not unexpected — it was predicted already in the 19th century after all.” But it threatens the ecosystems on which human life depends. Quick action is required.
Although he did not take part in the study’s calculations, climate scientist Chris Field of Stanford University said, “a record like this is another piece of evidence for the now massively supported proposition that global warming is pushing us into a hotter future.”
El Niño Also Plays a Role
Also contributing significantly to the heat is the natural El Nio climate pattern: “The onset of El Nio will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean,” said World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement.
On average, El Nio lasts for nine to twelve months and happens every two to seven years. It’s a weather phenomenon caused by the gradual heating of the tropical Pacific Ocean’s central and eastern regions. The World Meteorological Organization notes, however, that this phenomenon occurs within the framework of a climate altered by human activities.
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Records Smashed in June
This week’s daily heat records follow a June that broke global weather and climate records:
- Preliminary statistics suggest that last month was the warmest June since records began in 1940.
- The Met Office of the United Kingdom reported that this June was the warmest on record for the country. There are records from as far back as the 1880s.
- The June ice extent in the Antarctic was the lowest on record. Sea ice extent has been monitored since 1979.
According to NOAA, marine heat waves have spread to an unprecedented 40 percent of the world’s oceans since satellite monitoring began in 1991.
Continued Brutal Heat Waves
At least 13 individuals have died in the United States due to extreme heat this year. And we’re only a few days into the hottest month of the year.
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