Unprecedented Heat: The Story of the Planet’s Highest Temperature Yesterday

The Earth is undergoing a remarkable and rather alarming experience. The highest temperature yesterday broke records, marking it as the most blistering day ever documented. On a broader scale, we are living through what is likely to be the hottest month in recorded history, and possibly the warmest in more than 100,000 years.

1. The Record-Breaking Day

On Tuesday, 4 July, the world experienced the hottest day ever recorded, breaking the record set just a day before. Heatwaves across the globe, from China to North Africa and the southern states of the US, pushed the global average temperature to 17.18°C, a notch above the 17.01°C recorded on Monday. The data was provided by the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

“This record is no surprise and a testament of climate change progressing at a worrying pace,” said Joeri Rogelj, a professor of climate science at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute.

2. The Hottest Month on Record

Not only was the highest temperature yesterday a record-breaker, but the entire month of July is expected to set a new record as the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. This assertion is backed by data from multiple climate agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the World Meteorological Organisation.

“Given the extreme global temperatures over the first half of July, it is virtually certain that July will set a record both as the warmest July and as the warmest month in absolute terms since global temperature records began in the mid-1800s,” said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth.

3. The Hottest June on Record

The record-breaking highest temperature yesterday isn’t an isolated incident. It follows a trend of escalating global temperatures. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, June was the world’s hottest month on record. Both land and sea temperatures were anomalously high during this period.

4. The UK’s Hottest June Since 1884

The UK wasn’t spared from the heatwave either. The country experienced its hottest June since 1884, according to the Met Office, which attributed the extreme heat to climate change. The average temperature for June was 15.8°C – 0.9°C hotter than the previous record reached in both 1940 and 1976.

5. The Role of El Niño

An important factor contributing to the highest temperature yesterday and the overall surge in global temperatures is the El Niño weather phenomenon. El Niño, a periodic climatic event in the tropical Pacific associated with warmer global temperatures, is still developing, but forecasters are increasingly confident that it will be a very strong El Niño.

“A typical El Niño temporarily adds about 0.2C to average global temperature,” said Jeff Knight, manager of climate variability modelling, for the Met Office.

6. The Impact of Climate Change

While the El Niño phenomenon plays a significant role, the root cause of the increasing global average temperature is humanity’s burning of fossil fuels. We are seeing the effects of climate change in real-time, and the impacts are more severe than anticipated.

“A lot of this is expected — it is what our models predicted would happen,” said Kristina Dahl, a principal climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. “But I think the impacts are more severe than I would have anticipated. … Just seeing how it actually plays out, I think, is really heartbreaking.”

7. The Financial Cost of Green Transition

To combat climate change and its effects, such as the record-breaking highest temperature yesterday, significant financial investments are needed. A report from the EU Commission found that more than $762 billion a year in investments are needed to help Europe transition to greener energy.

8. The Human Toll

The soaring temperatures are not just breaking records; they are taking lives. More than 61,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of the scorching temperatures that gripped Europe last summer. With the likelihood of this record being broken this year or the next, the death toll could rise even further.

9. The Future of Global Temperatures

Scientists warn that if the current trends persist, including warmer overall temperatures and warmer oceans, we might look back at this period as one of the cooler years.

“We will anticipate that this is going to continue,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “And the reason why we think that it’s going to continue is because we continue to be putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and until we stop doing that, temperatures will keep on rising.”

10. What You Can Do

With the highest temperature yesterday signalling a stark reality, it’s time for us to take action. Can you help cool things down? By planting trees, you can make a difference. For every 100 trees you plant, we will plant an extra 10 for you.

In the face of rising global temperatures, it’s crucial that we all do our part to combat climate change. Start today by planting a tree and inspiring others to do the same.