15 national heat records broken across world this year so far in ‘uncharted territory’

An extraordinary number of heat records have already been broken this year as the world grows increasingly warmer with more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

A record of 15 national heat records have been broken since the start of this year, an influential climate historian has said just two days after the UK declared its hottest day of the year so far.

An additional 130 monthly national temperature records have also been broken along with tens of thousands of local high-temperature records reported at monitoring stations spanning from the Arctic to the South Pacific, Maximiliano Herrera told The Guardian.

Dr Michael Byrne, a reader in climate science at the University of St Andrews told The Independent: “This is absolutely not like anything I have seen before, we are in uncharted territory. It worries me and I do not think the world is prepared for temperatures at this level.”

Some of last year’s extreme heat could be attributed to the natural El Niño phenomenon — the recurring climate pattern where the tropical Pacific Ocean surface warms. But with the impact of that now subsiding and records still being broken it “really points to humans impacting this”, Dr Byrne said.

The months from February 2024 to July 2024 have been the most record-breaking for every statistic. Every day local areas are experiencing new extremes, with thousands of monitoring stations recording new monthly highs or lows.

Dr Byrne worries that countries seeing records “tumble faster and faster” are often those least well equipped to cope with it. He points to less developed countries without air conditioning or shade that will keenly feel the impact.

The geographic spread of the records is wide — from Mexico to the Australian territory of the Cocos Islands. But the most intense heat was concentrated in the Tropics, with new records being set every day for 15 consecutive months, Mr Herrera said.

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On 7 June, Egypt recorded its highest national temperature of 50.9C in Aswan. Two days earlier, Chad equalled its national record of 48C in Faya. On 1 May, Ghana reached a new peak of 44.6C in Navrong, while Laos entered a new heat zone with 43.7C in Tha Ngon.

Mr Herrera is a Costa Rican climate expert who has been monitoring climate records for 35 years and addresses a critical gap in global temperature monitoring with constant updates on X, formerly Twitter.

In one update yesterday, he said: “Koreas is also living the worst heat in history. Weeks of relentless humid heat 24/7 with no end in sight. While in the South most have access to AC, in the North most people don’t. Dew points in Pyongyang have reached deadly threshold of 30C! This is absolutely unprecedented.”

Since 2007, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has been archiving international records, organising expert panels to meticulously verify each one—a process that can be quite time-consuming. National and subnational records are frequently updated by various organisations. Mr Herrera takes all of these records, verifies them with local sources and then posts the updates on his X account called ‘Extreme Temperatures Around the World’.

The impact of climate change is being felt not just through heat. Northern African countries are living through months of endless record heat, but further south in the continent, torrential rains are causing widespread floods. In Sudan, these downpours are threatening to worsen the growing humanitarian crisis unfolding as a result of the war.

Dr Byrne added: “Because the air is warmer it is holding more water. So, when it rains, it pours. We experienced this more in the UK this summer and it’s incredibly worrying.

“But we haven’t experienced the worst of it, unlike in Switzerland where there has been devastating flooding. We can now expect to see hotter summer days followed by heavier rainfall more often.”

Yesterday, Turkey recorded July’s average temperature of 26.6C, which is 1.6C above normal - making it the hottest on record. Even one-tenth of one degree above a previous record is a meaningful increase but many records are severely surpassing this.

UN secretary general António Guterres said of last year’s intense global heat: “Sirens are blaring across all major indicators … Some records aren’t just chart-topping – they’re chart-busting. And changes are speeding up.”