CNN –
As heat waves continue to scorch parts of the world, scientists report that this scorching, deadly summer was the hottest on record – by a wide margin.
June to August was the warmest such period on the planet since records began in 1940, according to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
According to Copernicus, the global average temperature this summer was 16.77 degrees Celsius (62.19 Fahrenheit), which is 0.66 degrees Celsius above the 1990 to 2020 average, beating the previous record set in August 2019 by almost 0.3 degrees Celsius exceeded.
Typically, these records, which measure the average air temperature around the world, fall below hundredths of a degree.
This is the first set of scientific data to confirm what many had thought was inevitable. It’s been a scorching summer for parts of the Northern Hemisphere – including parts of the United States, Europe and Japan – with record-breaking heat waves and unprecedented sea temperatures.
The planet experienced the hottest June on record, followed by the hottest July – both of which far exceeded previous records.
According to the new Copernicus data, August was also the warmest such month on record and warmer than every other month this year except July. The global average temperature for the month was 16.82 degrees Celsius – 0.31 degrees warmer than the previous record set in 2016.
“The dog days of summer don’t just bark, they bite,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement accompanying the Copernicus data. “Our planet has just experienced a heatwave – the hottest summer on record. Climate breakdown has begun.”
In both July and August it was estimated to be 1.5 degrees warmer than pre-industrial levels, according to Copernicus. Scientists have long warned the world that this important threshold must be exceeded to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change.
While scientists tend to focus on long-term global temperature increases, these temporary breaches are an important preview of what the world may look like in the summer with 1.5 degrees of warming.
“The Northern Hemisphere has just had a summer of extremes – with repeated heatwaves fueling devastating wildfires, damaging health, disrupting daily life and taking a lasting toll on the environment,” Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization, said in a statement Explanation .
Countries in the Southern Hemisphere also experienced shockingly warm winters, with temperatures well above average in Australia, several South American countries and Antarctica.
Global average ocean temperatures were also exceptionally high, contributing to the intensification of major hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Pacific.
In July, the sea reached “hot tub” temperatures due to a sudden marine heat wave off the coast of Florida. While in June, parts of the North Atlantic experienced a “completely unprecedented” marine heatwave, with water temperatures up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than usual.
According to Copernicus, sea temperatures exceeded the previous record set in 2016 on every single day from late July to late August.
It is not yet clear whether this year will be the warmest year on record, but it is certain that it will be very close.
With four months left in the year, 2023 is currently the second warmest on record, just 0.01 degrees Celsius below 2016, the current warmest year on record, according to Copernicus.
Scientists say next year is likely to get even hotter due to the arrival of El Niño, a natural climate fluctuation that leads to higher than average sea surface temperatures and influences the weather.
“This El Niño is developing in a warmer ocean than any previous El Niño, so we are watching with interest how this event evolves in terms of strength and impact,” Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess told CNN
Burgess said the summer was one of record declines and it would only get worse if the world continues to burn fossil fuels that are heating the planet.
“The scientific evidence is overwhelming – we will continue to see more climate records and more intense and frequent extreme weather events impacting society and ecosystems until we stop emitting greenhouse gases,” she said in a statement.