Global temperatures hit a record on Monday, underscoring the dangers of ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions generated from burning fossil fuels.
The average worldwide temperature was 17 degrees Celsius, just above the previous record of 16.9C reached in August 2016, according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The new high underscores the extremity of 2023’s summer in the northern hemisphere, and brings into focus the slow pace of global progress on curbing emissions.
"This is not a milestone we should be celebrating, it's a death sentence for people and ecosystems,” said Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment. "Worryingly, it won't be the hottest day for a long time.” The El Nino weather phenomenon is set to push global temperatures higher, she said.