Record for World’s Hottest Day Gets Broken Two Days in a Row

Sunday, July 21, was briefly the hottest recorded day on Earth. Then, Monday, July 22 rolled around.

Stock image of a tired adult person feeling unwell during a hot day.

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After the global average temperature reached 62.762 degrees Fahrenheit (17.09 degrees Celsius) on Sunday, per the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, temperatures reached 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit (17.15 degrees Celsius) the following day.

The two back-to-back days had the hottest temperatures in recorded history, causing heat waves worldwide the past week — and throughout the summer. Before Sunday, July 21, the hottest day on record was Aug. 12, 2016.

“The event is still ongoing and it is possible the date of the peak may still change, but our data suggest we may see slightly lower temperatures in the next few days,” Carlo Buontempo, the director of Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in a statement.

In America, parts of California experienced triple-digit temperatures on July 22, triggering wildfire warnings in the affected areas, per NBC News. Meanwhile, temperatures reached 118 degrees in Dubai as a heatwave continues to grip Southern Europe, with Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece all issuing heat advisories.

Northern China also experienced historic numbers this summer, with the Xinjiang region reaching above 104 degrees, per CNN.

Another factor to the excessive heat? El Niño, a natural climate pattern that refers to the warming of the ocean’s surface, or “above-average sea surface temperatures, in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean,” per the United States Geological Survey.

Yale Climate Connections climate writer and meteorologist Bob Henson has predicted that La Niña — the weather pattern that brings cooler temperatures — will reduce average temperatures later this year, per NBC News.

“Even if next year doesn’t bring similar records, we know what the long term forecast is, and that’s warmer and warmer over time,” Henson said. “When you turn up the burners and leave them on for a century, you’re going to see the water boil.”