Global Temperature Record Set Sunday, Then Broken Again On Monday

The world had its hottest day on record this past Monday, at least by one measurement. 

Earth had its warmest day on record Sunday, at least by
one measurement. Then that record was broken on Monday.

Bear with me, as this will be a little number-heavy, but here goes:  

According to the European Copernicus Climate Change Service, on Monday, July 22, the global average temperature was 17.15 Celsius, or 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit. 

This broke the record set a day earlier, on July 21, 

The global average temperature on July 21 was 17.09 Celsius, or 62.76 degrees Fahrenheit.

That record which lasted a day is an almost indistinguishable bit higher than the previous record, 17.08 degrees Celsius (62.74 F) set on July 6, 2023.

What is striking is how much hotter the world has been in 2023 and 2024 than in previous years and decades. For 13 months ending in recent weeks. global temperatures have run far above any previous levels. 

Says Copernicus: 

"Before July 2023, the previous daily global average temperature record was 16.8 degrees Celsius (62.24 degrees F) on August 13, 2016, Since 3 July 2023, there have been 57 days that have exceeded that previous record, distributed between July and August, 2023 and during June and July so far in 2024."

The difference between 62.24 and 62.76 degrees F doesn't seem like much at all, but if you average out the whole world, that's a pretty big gap. 

And if you look at the charts showing the temperatures globally every year since 1940, the temperatures in 2023 and 2024 look really out of whack warm.  Back in the mid-1970s,  the peak global temperature annually was around 15.5 degrees Celsius, or 60.35 degrees F.  

This is one of a zillion measures of how climate change is making the world a vastly different place. The records this week will surely be exceeded again. Not sure if it will happen this week,  next week, next summer or a few years from now, but it's inevitable. 

Click on this chart to make it bigger and easier to see.
It shows that through 2023 and 2024 until 
recently, global temperatures have run far
above any other previous years. The lighter-
colored squiggles represent every year
from 1940 to 2022.

A big winter warm spell - at least by their frigid standards - in Antarctica contributed to this week's records by skewing the data even more towards warm. 

Although a new record beyond Monday's could be set this week or next, data indicates global temperatures will back off ever so slightly in the coming days. 

Some scientists say Monday might have been Earth's hottest day in 100,000 years. 

Even though Antarctica contributed to the world's warmth, if you're going to break the record for the world's hottest day, you pretty much have to do it in June, July or August. 

It's winter in the Southern Hemisphere, of course, but Copernicus explains why global temperatures peak in the Northern Hemisphere summer. 

"The global average temperature tends to reach its annual peak between late June and early August, coinciding with the Northern Hemisphere summer. This is because the seasonal patterns of the Northern Hemisphere drive the overall global temperatures. 

The large land masses of the Northern Hemisphere warm up faster than the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere can cool down during the northern summer months. "

In the days and weeks before Sunday and Monday, the global average temperatures was flirting with  near-record levels hovering just slightly below the levels of 2023.  

Global average temperatures have been setting record highs for their respective dates for more than a year before a few fell below those marks earlier this July.  Outside of summer, of course, the global average temperature are cooler than their peak which comes annually around now.   

We in Vermont sat out the world's hottest day. Temperatures Sunday and Monday here were close to normal for our region.   Sunday was Burlington's  third coolest so far this month which overall has been warmer than normal, as you've probably noticed.