The planet has just experienced its warmest week on record, breaking records once more.
July has the potential to become a significant month for heat, with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) closely monitoring temperatures for the possibility of breaking new records, even though we have already experienced weeks of unprecedented heat.
The ongoing heatwave across the northern hemisphere is expected to intensify further this week, leading to a surge in overnight temperatures, as reported by the WMO on Tuesday.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued a warning about anticipated temperatures in North America, Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean, stating that they could surpass 40 degrees Celsius and persist at this level for an extended period as the heatwave intensifies.
In a previous announcement, the organization disclosed that the global mean temperature during the period from July 3 to July 9 reached 17.18 degrees Celsius, marking it as the hottest week ever recorded worldwide according to preliminary data.
According to the latest update from the WMO, there is a possibility of setting new temperature records in the upcoming days. The previous record for the highest temperature in Europe was 48.8 degrees Celsius, recorded in Sicily in August 2021. Meanwhile, the global temperature record stands at 56.7 degrees Celsius, registered in Death Valley, California, in July 1913, as reported by the organization.
“If there are any new extreme temperature records during the ongoing heatwaves, we will issue a quick preliminary assessment and then start detailed evaluations as part of our painstaking verification process,” said Randall Cerveny, WMO weather and climate extremes rapporteur
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) explained that global temperature averages are derived from a combination of satellite observations and computer model simulations.
In a report by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, it was revealed that the temperatures in June exceeded the 1991-2020 average by approximately 0.5 degrees Celsius. This significant increase surpassed the previous record for June, which was set in June 2019.
According to Anthony Farnell, Global News’ chief meteorologist, Canada is also experiencing higher-than-normal temperatures in line with the global trend.
In recent times, temperature records have been shattered in the Northwest Territories, where the mercury climbed to 37.9 degrees Celsius. This marks the northernmost location ever recorded to reach such a high temperature, surpassing the previous record by nearly 3 degrees Celsius, as pointed out by Farnell.
