The last month, which was marked by heatwaves and fires around the world, was 0.33°C warmer than the previous month (July 2019, which had an average of 16.63°C). Copernicus wrote in his announcement that the air temperature was also 0.72 degrees warmer than the July average (1991-2020).
Already on July 27, before the end of the month, scientists considered it “extremely likely” that July 2023 would be the warmest month. This assessment prompted UN Secretary-General António Guterres to say:
Humanity has left behind the era of global warming and entered the era of “global source”.
Ocean surface water temperatures have been unusually high since April and unprecedentedly high in July. An absolute record of 20.96 degrees was measured on July 30, and for the month as a whole, the surface temperature was 0.51 degrees above the average for the period 1991-2020.
“In July, we set new records for both land surface temperature and ocean surface temperature. Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), said:
Signs of human-induced global warming – starting with the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) – appeared all over the world at the same time.
The World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international science network, has found that recent heat waves in Europe and the United States would have been “virtually impossible” without the influence of human activity.
Copernicus’ report also mentioned it
Antarctic ice cover is at its lowest level since satellite observations began in July, 15 percent lower than average.
“This year is the third warmest year, 0.43°C more than the last average,” and “the global mean temperature for July is 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels,” noted Samantha Burgess.
The value of one and a half degrees Celsius is symbolic, as it is the most ambitious limit set out in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to curb global warming. However, the threshold mentioned in the agreement does not apply to one month, but to an average of several years.
“Even if it is temporary, it shows the urgent need for more serious efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main cause of these records,” concluded Samantha Burgess.
The year 2023 may not close the chain of records yet. The Copernicus Service reminds: “Due to the development of the El Niño phenomenon, we expect a relatively warm year at the end of 2023.” The cyclical climate phenomenon over the Pacific Ocean actually means more global warming.
