VOA科学技术2024--Climate Agency Again Reports Hottest Day Record on Earth

The European climate change service Copernicus said Monday broke the world's hottest day record that was just set a day earlier.

The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said the daily global average temperature reached 17.15 degrees Celsius¹ on Monday. Earlier satellite data published by Copernicus on Wednesday showed that Monday's temperature broke the previous day's record by 0.06 degrees Celsius.

Countries around the world from Japan to Bolivia to the United States are said to be having hot conditions.

Climate scientists say the world is now as warm as it was 125,000 years ago. They blame human-caused climate change for the warm temperatures.

Scientists cannot be certain that Monday was the hottest day in more than 100,000 years since data does not go back that far. But average temperatures have not been this high since long before humans developed agriculture, the Associated Press reports.

The temperature rise in recent years supports what climate scientists predicted would happen if humans kept burning oil, natural gas, and coal at an increasing rate.

Roxy Mathew Koll is a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in western India. Koll said, "We are in an age where weather and climate records are frequently stretched beyond our tolerance² levels, resulting in insurmountable loss of lives and livelihood³."

Copernicus' early data shows the global average temperature on Monday, July 22, was 17.15 degrees Celsius. Before last summer, the previous recorded hottest day was in 2016 when the average temperature reached 16.8 degrees Celsius.

The European agency said what caused this week's high temperatures was a warmer-than-usual Antarctic winter. The same thing happened last year when a record was set in early July.

Copernicus records go back to 1940. Other global measurements by the United States and British governments go back to 1880. Many scientists also consider tree growth rings and ice samples. They say that information suggests that last year's record high temperatures were the hottest in about 120,000 years.

Now, temperatures reported in the first six months of 2024 have broken the earlier records.

Without human-caused climate change, scientists say that extreme temperature records would not be broken nearly as often.

Former head of U.N. climate negotiations⁴ Christiana Figueres said "We all scorch⁵ and fry" if the world does not immediately change course.

"One third of global electricity can be produced by solar and wind alone, but targeted national policies have to enable that transformation," she said.

Words in This Story

frequently -adv. taking place often

tolerance -n. the ability to survive or withstand some event or pressure

insurmountable -adj. impossible to recover from

sample -n. an amount of something that is taken for study usually in a laboratory

scorch -v. to burn with a flame or high heat

fry -v. to cook using hot oil

1 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

2 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

3 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 scorch   

v.烧焦，烤焦；高速疾驶；n.烧焦处，焦痕

参考例句：

• I could not wash away the mark of the scorch.我洗不掉这焦痕。
• This material will scorch easily if it is too near the fire.这种材料如果太靠近炉火很容易烤焦。