Forest fires have ravaged swathes of Greece and burnt 12 million hectares in Canada, while southern Europe, parts of North Africa, southern United States and pockets of China have been reeling under a punishing heatwave.
Deadly rains that pummelled China’s capital Beijing in recent days were the heaviest since records began 140 years ago.
Carlo Buontempo, Director of Copernicus, had earlier said the temperatures in the period had been “remarkable”.
Beyond these official records, he said proxy data for the climate going back further – like tree rings or ice cores – suggests the temperatures seen in the period could be “unprecedented in our history in the last few thousand years”.
Possibly even longer “on the order of 100,000 years” he said.
UN chief Antonio Guterres recently put out an SOS call.
“Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning,” said Guterres, urging immediate and bold action to cut planet-heating emissions.
“The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.”
Source: CNA
