July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth

July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, according to data from the European agency Copernicus, published on Tuesday.

At 16.95°C, the average temperature recorded across the globe in July was the highest on record, a new high that crushed previous records “for all months combined”, says the European Weather Forecast Centre service, quoted by the media.

July 2023 was 0.72°C warmer than the average for July over the period 1991-2020. The average temperature recorded was also 0.33°C higher than the previous hottest month, July 2019.

“The month is estimated to have been around 1.5°C warmer than the 1850-1900 average,” explains the Copernicus team, noting that heat waves affected several regions of the northern hemisphere, including southern Europe, during July.

Significantly above-average temperatures were also recorded in several South American countries and around much of Antarctica, while seas and oceans posted record average global water surface temperatures.

For the month of July, “global average sea surface temperatures were 0.51°C above the 1991-2020 average”, explains Copernicus.

“These records have serious consequences for people and the planet, exposed to increasingly frequent and intense extreme events,” says Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of Copernicus.