July 3rd, marked the global record for the highest temperature ever recorded, according to data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
The average global temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.62 degrees Fahrenheit), surpassing the previous record of 16.92 degrees Celsius (62.46 degrees Fahrenheit) set in August 2016, as heatwaves scorched various parts of the world.
In recent weeks, the southern United States has been enduring the effects of an intense heat dome. China continues to face a persistent heatwave with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). North Africa has witnessed temperatures nearing 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
Surprisingly, even Antarctica, currently in its winter season, has recorded abnormally high temperatures. Ukraine's Vernadsky Research Base, situated on the Argentine Islands in the white continent, recently broke its July temperature record, reaching 8.7 degrees Celsius (47.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
"This is not an achievement to be celebrated," stated climate scientist Friederike Otto from the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London.
"It poses a serious threat to both people and ecosystems."
Scientists attributed the phenomenon to climate change, coupled with the emergence of an El Nino pattern.
"Unfortunately, this is likely just the beginning of a series of new temperature records to be set this year, as rising emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases, combined with a growing El Nino event, push temperatures to unprecedented levels," commented Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth, in a statement.
