New York: Global warming, the long-term heating of Earth’s surface caused by human activities like fossil fuel burning, has already assumed dangerous proportions.
To gauge its extent, our planet just experienced the hottest day ever recorded globally on July 3, reported Reuters.
According to data from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction, the average global temperature on July 3 reached 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.62 Fahrenheit) — surpassing the August 2016 record of 16.92C (62.46F) — as heatwaves tormented several countries around the world.
“This is not a milestone we should be celebrating… It’s a death sentence for people and ecosystems,” warned climate scientist Friederike Otto of Grantham Institute for Climate Change and Environment at Imperial College London.
Scientists blamed the temperature surge to climate change, combined with an emerging El Nino pattern.
“Unfortunately, it promises to only be the first in a series of records set this year as increasing emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases coupled with a growing El Nino event push temperatures to new highs,” said Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth said.
