According to climate scientist Karsten Haustein of Germany’s Leipzig University, early climate records gathered from ice cores and tree rings suggest the Earth has not been this hot in 120,000 years.
Global mean temperature for July is around 16C (61F) while factoring in winter in the southern hemisphere. This July it hit 17C (63F). According to climate experts, this is a significant change that impacts global weather.
The effects of July’s heat have been seen across the world scorching parts of Europe, North America and China. France, Italy, Poland and southern Europe saw searing temperatures. Even an Alpine ski resort at 1,860 metres recorded a temperature of 29.5C (85F), and the foothills of the Pyrenees saw temperature touch the 40C (104F) mark.
The US Southwest suffered baking heat with temperatures crossing 40C at several places. Wildfires in Canada burned on a scale that enveloped New York in a pall of smoke. Temperatures at Sanbao township in Xinjiang, China soared to an unprecedented high of 52.2 C (126F).
Even Antarctica was not spared. Monitoring stations report ice is at a record low at a time when it should be forming to its maximum during the winter in the southern hemisphere.
Meanwhile, global warming has led to record rainfall and floods in parts of South Korea, Japan, India and Pakistan. According to experts, more such unpredictable weather events could become frequent unless we reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere.