Monday (July 3) was the world’s hottest day on record, with an average temperature above 17 degrees Celsius (62.6 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time, according to preliminary readings by US meteorologists on Tuesday.

A system affiliated with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded the average daily air temperature on the planet’s surface on July 3 at 17.01 degrees Celsius.

The reading surpassed the previous daily record (16.92 degrees Celsius) set on July 24 last year, which dates back to 1979, according to data from the administration’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

The global mean air temperature, which fluctuates between about 12°C and less than 17°C on any given day throughout the year, averaged 16.2°C in early July between 1979 and 2000.

Average global temperatures generally continue to rise until late July or early August.

Until last month, early June was the warmest average global temperature recorded by the European Union’s Copernicus climate monitoring unit.

Temperatures could rise above historical averages next year with the appearance of an “El Niño” weather phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, the World Meteorological Organization confirmed on Monday.

Additionally, human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, continues to release about 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.

UN to “anticipate consequences”

On Tuesday, the United Nations called on governments to anticipate the effects of the “El Niño” climate event, which is associated with an increase in global temperatures, “to save lives and livelihoods”.

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization indicated that El Niño would continue throughout the year with an intensity that would be “at least moderate”, declaring it “the beginning of an episode”, with a 90 percent chance of continuing into the second half. year.

On June 8, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the arrival of El Niño.

The effect of rising temperatures usually becomes apparent a year after the event develops, so it will be most pronounced in 2024.

“The arrival of El Niño greatly increases the likelihood that it will break temperature records and cause extremely warm conditions in many parts of the world and in the oceans,” UN Meteorological and Climate Agency Director Petteri Talas said in a statement.

“The World Meteorological Organization’s announcement of El Niño requires governments around the world to prepare to mitigate its impacts on our health, ecosystems and economies,” he added.

In this regard, he stressed the importance of early warning systems and necessary measures for extreme weather events associated with this major weather event to “save lives and livelihoods”.

The World Health Organization has also expressed concern.

The organization is particularly concerned about the increase in water-related diseases such as cholera, in addition to mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, as well as infectious diseases such as measles and meningitis. Regarding the organization’s public health and environment, Maria Nira told reporters.

In 2018-2019, some regions announced the arrival of El Niño, which at that time was considered weak.

But the World Meteorological Organization did not make the announcement due to a “lack of consensus” from the international community, Wilfran Mufuma Ogiya, head of the regional climate forecast service, told reporters.

The last episode of El Niño was seven years ago in 2015-2016, and was the most severe, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

“New Alarm”

The last occurrence in 2018-2019 led to a three-year long episode of El Niña phenomenon, which has adverse effects, especially low temperatures.

El Niño is a weather phenomenon that occurs every two to seven years, typically lasts 9 to 12 months, and is associated with increased sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.

But the current episode “comes in the context of a climate that has been altered by human activities,” the World Meteorological Organization said.

Last May, the World Meteorological Organization warned that the period between 2023-2027 will almost certainly be the hottest on record on Earth, given the combined effect of the El Niño phenomenon and global warming caused by the release of polluting gases.

It estimates a 66 percent chance that the global average surface temperature will be 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for at least one year between 2023 and 2027.

“This does not mean we will exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius set in the Paris climate agreement in the next five years, as the agreement refers to sustained climate warming over many years,” explained Chris Hewitt, Director of Climate Services at the World Meteorological Organization. . It’s a new sign of awareness.”

El Niño is generally associated with increased rainfall in southern Latin America, South America, the Horn of Africa, and parts of Central Asia. They can cause severe droughts in Australia, Indonesia and parts of South Asia and Central America.

In turn, its warm waters can feed hurricanes in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, and they can limit hurricane formation in the Atlantic basin.