The Hottest Day in Earth's History, Record Broken in Just One Day

Average Global Surface Temperature Reaches 17.15°C on the 22nd

The record for the hottest day in the world was broken again in just one day. On the 21st, the global average surface temperature reached 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest since climate observations began in 1940, but this was surpassed the very next day, the 22nd, with a temperature of 17.15 degrees Celsius, pushing the previous record to second place.

A woman is cooling off at a fountain in downtown Rome.
Photo by AP Yonhap News

This is according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union's climate monitoring agency. C3S reported that on the 21st, the global average surface temperature was 17.09 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous daily record of 17.08 degrees Celsius set on July 6 of last year, nearly a year ago. C3S has been conducting climate research since 1940. The previous daily highest temperature was 17.08 degrees Celsius, recorded on July 6 last year.

When announcing the temperature on the 21st, C3S predicted, "Heatwaves on Earth tend to cluster when they reach their peak, so new records could be broken again soon," which indeed happened the very next day on the 22nd. C3S stated, "We are truly in uncharted territory." The previous record on July 6 last year was also the result of consecutive record-breaking temperatures over four days starting from July 3 of the same month.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has long classified heatwaves as "one of the most dangerous natural disasters."

South Korea Becomes the Hottest Country in the World

Temperatures in South Korea are rising even more steeply. According to an analysis of heatwave trends in major cities worldwide by the UK's International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the increase rate of heatwave days in Seoul over the past 30 years reached 7,360%, the steepest among 20 major cities globally.

South Korea's temperature has risen sharply in the last decade. Looking at 10-year intervals, the number of heatwave days increased from just 9 days during 1994?2003 to 17 days in 2004?2013, and then jumped to 58 days in 2014?2023. Of the total 84 heatwave days over the past 30 years, 60% occurred within the last 6 years.