July '23 set to be hottest month on record, says WMO

Karam Prakash

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New Delhi, July 29

World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a specialised agency of the United Nations, said that July 2023 is set to be the hottest month on record.

WMO said that the first three weeks of July had been the warmest three-week period on record according to the data from the European Union (EU)-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). WMO further said that July was on track to be the hottest July and the hottest month on record (ever).

According to the WMO, the daily average global mean surface air temperature on July 6 surpassed the record set in August 2016, making it the hottest day on record, with July 5 and July 7 shortly behind. The WMO confirmed that the first three weeks of July had been the warmest three-week period on record.

“Global mean temperature temporarily exceeded the 1.5° Celsius threshold above pre-industrial level during the first and third week of the month,” WMO said in a statement.

The WMO further said that these temperatures, related to heat waves in large parts of North America, Asia and Europe — along with wildfires in countries including Canada and Greece, had major impacts on people’s health, the environment and economies.

“For vast parts of North America, Asia, Africa and Europe, it is a cruel summer. For the entire planet, it is a disaster. And for scientists, it is unequivocal: Humans are to blame. All this is entirely consistent with predictions and repeated warnings. The only surprise is the speed of the change. Since May, the global average sea surface temperature has been well above previously observed values for the time of the year; contributing to the exceptionally warm July,” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The WMO predicts that there is a 98 per cent likelihood that at least one of the next five years would be the warmest on record and a 66 per cent chance of temporarily exceeding 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 average for at least one of the five years.