Monday was the world's hottest day on record - as scientists warn climate change is to blame
The planet experienced its hottest day since records began on Monday - a record that may soon be broken again, climate scientists are warning. The average global temperature hit 62.62F (17.01C), a jump from the 62.46F (16.92C) high recorded in August 2016. While England experienced a relatively cool 13F (20C), the US government's National Centers for Environmental Prediction said exceeded 104F (40C). The researchers pinned rising temperatures on El Nino, a climate-heating natural weather event that last appeared in 2016, and growing carbon emissions. The double whammy made Monday the warmest day since satellite monitoring records started tracking global averages in 1979. Average temperatures were also at their highest since data collection on weather began towards the end of the 19th century, experts believe. Professor Friederike Otto, senior lecturer at Imperial College London, said: 'This is not a milestone we should [celebrate]. It's a death sentence for people and ecosystems.' Average temperatures across the planet were 2.63F (1.46C) higher this June than they were in the period between 1850 and 1900. China, which is steadily reawakening from a period of factory closures and reduced economic activity following the pandemic, also experienced record highs on Monday. The US researchers noted temperatures of 95F (35C) in some places. Meanwhile, European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans called on Tuesday for faster and more decisive joint action with China to tackle the 'accelerating' climate crisis. Timmermans, who is in Beijing for climate talks, met Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang yesterday at the Diaoyutai state guest house, where China's leaders have traditionally received senior foreign visitors. Humanity is confronted with a 'triple crisis', namely global warming, a loss of biodiversity and pollution, Timmermans said. China has pledged to reduce its coal consumption, but not until 2026. On Monday, Chinese officials asked power plants and coal suppliers to do 'everything possible' to ensure electricity supply this summer as cities struggle with scorching temperatures. The World Meteorological Organization has warned that El Nino - a band of warm ocean water in the Pacific accompanied by air pressure fluctuations, causing temperature rises - could continue through the second half of 2023. Last summer, emissions from coal and gas rose sharply in the EU as high temperatures for air conditioning. Sainsbury's recorded a 1,876 per cent spike in electric fan sales in early July 2022 as British carbon emissions rose by almost a third. Despite several years of the temperature-lowering effects of La Nina - the long-term cooling version of El Nino - global temperatures have tended to rise regardless.