It is hot, very hot and it is expected that the coming months will get even hotter.

The first week of July, the globally the hottest in historyexperts from the World Meteorological Organization (OMM), who announced during a press conference that alarm has been raised among the scientific community due to the temperature records recorded on the planet.

While the effects of climate change have been predicted for decades, what will happen in 2023 is “unprecedented” and in some parts of the world, such as the North Atlantic, the temperature rise is beyond what “the models predicted”. said Michael Sparrow, director of research at the WMO.

This is the latest in a series of records recorded so far this year, with June already the warmest month from history.

Temperatures, the WMO said in a statement, are “breaking records both on land and in the oceans,” with “potentially devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment.”

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Places like Spain and Uruguay are experiencing extreme droughts, and some US states and Chinese provinces are experiencing heat waves that put tens of millions of people at risk. As the Antarctic ice melts at unprecedented levels.

“There is a lot of concern among the scientific community and trying to understand these changes that we are seeing. It’s very concerning,” Sparrow added.

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extreme heat

According to Copernicus, the weather and climate service of the European Union, the three warmest days ever recorded took place last week.

The average global temperature reached 16.89°C on Monday, July 3, and exceeded 17°C for the first time on July 4, with an average global temperature of 17.04°C.

But preliminary figures suggest that this figure was exceeded on July 5 when the temperature reached 17.05°C.

And while the temperature in the air usually worries the population the most, because it has a direct effect that can be felt immediately, it is the oceans that accumulate the most heat.

The high temperatures of the North Atlantic are especially important around the British coastswith some areas recording temperatures up to 5°C higher than would normally be expected at this time of year.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) classified it as a Category 4 heat wave.

It is a rare designation outside the tropics and denotes extreme heat.

“Such anomalous temperatures in this part of the North Atlantic are unheard of,” Daniela Schmidt, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Bristol, told the BBC.

El Niño has only just begun

Part of the increase in temperature is attributed to the phenomenon of The boywhich develops in the tropical Pacific Ocean and is a recurring weather pattern.

El Niño is just “beginning” and the effects are expected to last until mid-2024, so in the coming months temperatures can be higher than the current ones.

“2024 is expected to be a record year if the El Niño force continues as predicted,” said Omar Baddour, WMO’s chief of monitoring.

Scientists fear that El Niño will temporarily push the world past the important milestone of 1.5°C warming.

And that would be just the beginning, unless drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are made.

Well, the heat in the North Atlantic not linked to El Niñoand it’s a phenomenon that’s still being researched, Sparrow said.

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Antarctic ice

As the land surface experiences extreme heat, Antarctic sea ice reached a record low last month, something Sparrow also views with alarm.

“The way the ice around Antarctica is melting is unprecedented. The region is usually relatively more stable than the North Pole. We’ve seen this ice reduction in the Arctic, but not in Antarctica,” he said.

“It’s a massive meltdown,” he added.

The WMO said Antarctic sea ice levels last month were 17% below average since satellite observations began.

“It’s not just the surface temperature, but the whole ocean is warming up and absorbing energy that will stay there for hundreds of years,” the WMO said.

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