Officially, July 2021 was the hottest month that humans have ever seen. This July beat three months from 2016, 2019, and 2020, which had tied for the title. Climate change is evident in the fact that this happened so recently.
Climate change is evident in the fact that this happened so quickly.
“In this case, first place is the worst place to be,” Rick Spinrad, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said in a statement. Spinrad stated that the NOAA temperature record was confirmed today. This “adds to the disturbing, disruptive path climate change has created for the world.”
Scientists now have more evidence that climate change is causing extreme weather, particularly when it comes down to heat. A major new United Nations climate report published this week stated that humans have had a significant impact on the weather worldwide by burning fossil fuels. The new report shows that almost every part of the globe, except the polar regions has experienced an increase in extreme heat events over the past 50 years.
“Climate Change is a problem that is now. Inger Andersen (executive director, United Nations Environment Programme), stated that nobody is safe and it’s getting worse quicker in an August 9 press conference.
‘virtually impossible’ without climate change
Last month was the hottest month globally since records began 142 years ago. However, heat was especially severe in certain regions. According to NOAA, July broke the entire Northern Hemisphere land-surface temperature record. Asia had the hottest July ever recorded.
Even in cooler areas, such unprecedented heat can cause severe damage. This is especially true because infrastructure and people have not had to adjust to these hot summers. For example, the heatwaves that hit Southwest Canada and the Pacific Northwest this summer caused havoc on roads and sent hundreds to emergency rooms. They also fueled wildfires and killed thousands. The most severe heatwave to hit, which took place in late June, would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change, an international team of researchers determined. It was also declared the “most extreme” summer heatwave in North America since records began.
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August was also scorching. Another heatwave is bearing down on the Pacific Northwest. Europe might have seen its hottest day on record on August 11, when the mercury rose to 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in Sicily, Italy. The World Meteorological Organization is still working to verify that record. But if greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow, the world is likely to see more and more temperature records fall.