Temperatures hit record highs in Europe and the United States, and global heat reaches its highest point

[New Sancai Compilation First Release] Last month was the hottest June on record globally, ending a half-year of wild and destructive weather ranging from floods to heat waves, the European Union's climate monitoring agency said on Monday local time. The U.S. is no different, with a prolonged heat wave that has already broken U.S. records continuing, with temperatures soaring to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celsius) in parts of the West and hot and humid conditions in the East throughout the week.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said that since June 2023, the world has experienced unprecedented high temperatures for 13 consecutive months, with each month breaking its own temperature record.

"This is more than just a statistical oddity, it highlights the dramatic and ongoing changes our climate is undergoing," said service director Carlo Buontempo.

"Even if this particular extreme ends at some point, we're bound to see new records being broken as the climate continues to warm."

Global average temperatures last month broke the record set in June 2023. The new high comes in a year marked by extreme weather conditions.

In the first half of this year, sweltering heat has swept across large swaths of the world, from India to Saudi Arabia, the United States and Mexico.

Scientists have also linked the phenomenon to global warming, with persistent rains causing massive flooding in Kenya, China, Brazil, Afghanistan, Russia and France.

Wildfires have burned across Greece and Canada, and last week Hurricane Beryl devastated several Caribbean islands, becoming the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record.

Global temperatures reached their highest levels on record in the 12 months to June 2024, averaging 1.64 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. There is an 80% chance that the Earth's annual average temperature will at least temporarily exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next five years.

NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson said the National Weather Service's highest warning, the overheat warning, has been in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10% of the total population. He said he expects dozens of locations across the West and Pacific Northwest to tie or break previous heat records.

More extreme heat is forecast for the near term, including 129 degrees Fahrenheit (53.8 degrees Celsius) at Furniss Creek in California's Death Valley National Park on Sunday, then around 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) by Wednesday.

The hottest temperature officially recorded on Earth is 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.67 degrees Celsius) in Death Valley in eastern California in July 1913, although some experts dispute this measurement and say the real record is 130 degrees Fahrenheit recorded in July 2021 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius).

(Compiled by: Wang Jimin)
(Editor: Jiang Qiming)
(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)