Hottest day ever

Sunday, July 21, was the hottest day ever recorded worldwide, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Monitoring Service said, according to preliminary data.

The global average near-surface temperature on Sunday was 17.09 degrees Celsius, slightly above the previous record of 17.08 degrees Celsius set in July last year.

Heat waves have swept across large swathes of the United States, Europe and Russia over the past week.

Copernicus said it appeared July 21 had broken the record for the daily average temperature set last year in records dating back to 1940, according to Reuters.

Last year, the record was broken on four consecutive days, from July 3 to 6.

Copernicus said that for 13 consecutive months, starting in June 2023, record high temperatures were recorded compared to the same months in previous years.

Some scientists suggest that 2024 could be the hottest year on record, even surpassing 2023 as the hottest year since records began.

This year’s high temperatures have been driven by climate change and the El Niño weather phenomenon, which ended in April.