(CMR) Tuesday was the hottest day ever recorded on Earth, with the global average temperature reaching 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit (17.18 degrees Celsius), according to data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
On Monday, the average global temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.62 Fahrenheit), the highest recorded since 1979, when recordings started. On Tuesday, it climbed even further, reaching 17.18 degrees Celsius. The previous record of 16.92 degrees Celsius was set in August 2016.
Some scientists believe July 4 may have been one of the hottest days on Earth in about 125,000 years due to climate change causing global temperatures to soar, the return of the El Niño pattern, and the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
El Niño occurs on average every two to seven years, and episodes typically last nine to 12 months. It is a naturally occurring climate pattern associated with the warming of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific oceans.
Scientists believe the record could be broken again very soon.
“The increasing heating of our planet caused by fossil fuel use is not unexpected − it was predicted already in the 19th century, after all. But it is dangerous for us humans and for the ecosystems we depend on. We need to stop it fast,” said climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research in Germany.
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