It was a real firecracker of a Fourth.
Our planet recorded its highest ever global temperature Monday at the mark of 62.6 degrees — only to be broken the next day on the Fourth of July at 62.9 degrees, the Climate Change Institute reported.
The outlook for the rest of the summer is a sizzling one, warns Dr. Robert Rohde of the independent Berkeley Earth environmental data group.
“We may well see a few even warmer days over the next 6 weeks,” he tweeted, addressing what the presumed culprit is for the record temps.
A key driver this year is an El Niño weather pattern arising from South America that impacts wind and water currents.
It typically brings warm and dry conditions to the northern US and Canada while El Niño often increases flooding around the Gulf Coast and southeastern states, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The World Meteorological Organization warns that this El Niño — a system that comes on average every two to seven years — is on track to be one of the most impactful in recent memory.
“The onset of El Niño will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
“The declaration of an El Niño by WMO is the signal to governments around the world to mobilize preparations to limit the impacts on our health, our ecosystems and our economies,” he added.
The previous record came in 2016 at 62.5. The Earth’s temperature has been regularly recorded for 140 years.
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