…July 2023 the hottest month in human history
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH July being described as the hottest month on record, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on leaders to lead in the fight to protect the environment.
His call comes against the backdrop of the World Meteorological Organization and the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service yesterday (Jul.27) released data confirming what many speculated that “July 2023 is set to be the hottest month ever recorded in human history”.
Underscoring that point is the fact that several states within the United States of America have seen more than 40 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures, while Europe is also seeing scorching temperatures that have been fueling wildfires.
“We don’t have to wait for the end of the month to know this. Short of a mini-Ice Age over the next days, July 2023 will shatter records across the board.” Guterres said while adding that based on the data, this month “has already seen the hottest three-week period ever recorded - the three hottest days on record, and the highest-ever ocean temperatures for this time of year”.
This is a disaster of epic proportions occurring across the globe, as territories in the Caribbean and in Africa continue to swelter under the conditions, which underscores the prediction outlined by scientists in their push for the public to understand the global Greenhouse talks and Climate Change.
“All this is entirely consistent with predictions and repeated warnings,” Guterres noted in a media engagement with reporters at the United Nations Headquarters yesterday.
He opined that the only surprise is “the speed of the change”.
Climate experts have for years been warning of the change conditions, and small developing nations are at the forefront of Climate Change, where the temperature will rise along with sea levels, stronger hurricanes and unpredictable rainfall.
Climatologists in the Caribbean have confirmed that waters within the Atlantic and around the Caribbean are extremely warm, acting as a fuel for the development of hurricanes, and those of high intensity.
Just recently, the region recorded a number of unseasonable tropical storm developments for this time of the year - though it is not yet the peak of the season.
“The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived. The air is unbreathable. The heat is unbearable. And the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable,” the UN Secretary-General said.
Director of the Antigua and Barbuda Meteorological Department had highlighted the current reality of the people in the territory and those across the Leeward Islands.
“We would have had our warmest June since 1998, and that makes it the fourth warmest on record. We noted too that sea surface temperatures around Antigua and the Leeward Islands were the second highest on record in June,” he told the Antigua and Barbuda Broadcasting Service.
Against that backdrop, SG Guerres reminded that there is still hope that the world could limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius “and avoid the very worst of Climate Change”.
That target is one that was outlined for the Caribbean and Small Island Developing States in order to protect itself and was later adopted by the United Nations and others.
With a number of global meetings ahead, the SG and other leaders will be raising the issue at the Africa Climate Summit, the G20 Summit, the UN Climate Ambition Summit, and at COP28. The latter will bring all countries together to thrash out the inner workings of climate agreements.
Guterres believes that the leaders, “particularly G20 countries responsible for 80% of global emissions, must step up for climate action and climate justice”.
