United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday pleaded for immediate radical action on climate change, saying that record-shattering July temperatures show Earth has passed from a warming phase into an “era of global boiling”.
A blistering heatwave is sweeping the northern hemisphere, including parts of Europe and the Americas, with record-high temperatures triggering devastating wildfires in countries such as Greece, Italy and Algeria along the Mediterranean.
Speaking in New York, Guterres described the intense heat across the northern hemisphere as a “cruel summer”.
“For the entire planet, it is a disaster,” he said, noting that “short of a mini-Ice Age over the next days, July 2023 will shatter records across the board.”
“Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning. The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.”
According to ERA5 data from the European Union-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service, the first three weeks of July have been the warmest three-week period on record and the month is on track to be the hottest July and the hottest month on record.
Complete ERA5 data for July will be available and published on August 8.
The previous hottest month on record was July 2019.