Current:Home > InvestMonday is the hottest day recorded on Earth, beating Sunday’s record, European climate agency says -Wealth Legacy Solutions
Monday is the hottest day recorded on Earth, beating Sunday’s record, European climate agency says
View
Date:2025-04-15 03:45:56
Monday was recorded as the hottest day ever, beating a record set the day before, as countries across the globe from Japan to Bolivia to the United States continue to feel the heat, according to the European climate change service.
Provisional satellite data published by Copernicus early on Wednesday showed that Monday broke the previous day’s record by 0.06 degrees Celsius (0.1 degree Fahrenheit).
Climate scientists say the world is now as warm as it was 125,000 years ago because of human-caused climate change. While scientists cannot be certain that Monday was the very hottest day throughout that period, average temperatures have not been this high since long before humans developed agriculture.
The temperature rise in recent decades is in line with what climate scientists projected would happen if humans kept burning fossil fuels at an increasing rate.
“We are in an age where weather and climate records are frequently stretched beyond our tolerance levels, resulting in insurmountable loss of lives and livelihoods,” Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.
Copernicus’ preliminary data shows the global average temperature Monday was 17.15 degrees Celsius, or 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit. The previous record before this week was set just a year ago. Before last year, the previous recorded hottest day was in 2016 when average temperatures were at 16.8 degrees Celsius, or 62.24 degrees Fahrenheit.
While 2024 has been extremely warm, what kicked this week into new territory was a warmer-than-usual Antarctic winter, according to Copernicus. The same thing happened on the southern continent last year when the record was set in early July.
Copernicus records go back to 1940, but other global measurements by the United States and United Kingdom governments go back even further, to 1880. Many scientists, taking those into consideration along with tree rings and ice cores, say last year’s record highs were the hottest the planet has been in about 120,000 years. Now the first six months of 2024 have broken even those.
Without human-caused climate change, scientists say that extreme temperature records would not be broken nearly as frequently as is happening in recent years.
Former head of U.N. climate negotiations Christiana Figueres said “we all scorch and fry” if the world doesn’t immediately change course. “One third of global electricity can be produced by solar and wind alone, but targeted national policies have to enable that transformation,” she said.
____
AP science writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.
____
Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
veryGood! (71767)
Related
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Are Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg actually going to fight? Here's what we know so far
- This 8-year-old can't believe her eyes when her Navy brother surprises her at school
- Why Americans plan to take Social Security earlier, and even leave retirement money behind
- 'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
- Students blocked from campus when COVID hit want money back. Some are actually getting refunds.
- 21 Only Murders in the Building Gifts Every Arconiac Needs
- Khloe Kardashian Shares Photo of Daughter True and Nephew Psalm in Casts After Injuring Arms
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- Oregon Capitol construction quietly edges $90 million over budget
Ranking
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Dakota Johnson Shares Rare Insight Into Her Bond With Riley Keough
- Warlocks motorcycle club member convicted in death of associate whose body was left in crypt
- The Visual Effects workers behind Marvel's movie magic vote to unionize
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Tampa Bay Rays ace Shane McClanahan likely out for rest of season: 'Surgery is an option'
- Cause of death revealed for Robert De Niro's grandson Leandro
- Alex Cooper and Alix Earle Are Teaming Up for the Most Captivating Collab
Recommendation
Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
How pop culture framed the crack epidemic
Robert De Niro's Grandson Leandro's Cause of Death Confirmed by Officials
Sandra Bullock's longtime partner Bryan Randall dies at 57 after battle with ALS
Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
Zoom, which thrived on the remote work revolution, wants workers back in the office part-time
Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn stepping down after 13 years with Elon Musk's company
Stranger Things Star Noah Schnapp Shares College Dorm Essentials for the Best School Year Yet