UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday issued a “call for climate action” to combat the extreme heat the planet is suffering, after Sunday was the hottest on record globally.
“The Earth is getting hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere (…) Extreme heat is the new abnormal,” Guterres told reporters, linking this extreme weather event to human action and the consumption of fossil fuels.
Sunday, July 21 was the hottest day on record since records began in 1940, with an average global surface temperature of 17.09 degrees Celsius, the European Copernicus programme reported on Tuesday.
The record is slightly higher (0.01°C) than the previous maximum, set on July 6, 2023.
Extreme heat already kills half a million people a year, 30 times more than cyclones, and the World Meteorological Organization has warned of a rapid increase in heat waves “in scale, intensity, frequency and duration,” said the secretary general of the United States.
“One billion people are facing an epidemic of extreme heat, roasting under increasingly deadly heat waves, with temperatures exceeding 50°C,” warned Guterres, leaving a “call to action” based on the protection of the most vulnerable people and workers, concerted use of scientific data and the fight against climate change.
Source: Observadora
