July 2019 could go down as planet's hottest ever

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The World Meteorological Organization said Thursday that July 2019 may go down as the hottest month the planet has seen thus far in recorded history. “July has re-written climate history, with dozens of new temperature records at local, national, and global level,” said WMO chief Petteri Taalas.

July’s warmth followed the planet’s warmest June ever recorded, according to global scientists. What’s more, said the WMO, 2015 to 2019 are on track to be the warmest five years on the books.

WMO’s Taalas, in his statement, noted:

“The extraordinary heat was accompanied by dramatic ice melt in Greenland, in the Arctic, and on European glaciers,” he said. “Unprecedented wildfires raged in the Arctic for the second consecutive month, devastating once pristine forests which used to absorb carbon dioxide and instead turning them into fiery sources of greenhouse gases.” The WMO also pointed to the July heatwave that gripped Europe, during which cities like Paris notched new record highs. The countries of Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands broke national records for warmest temperatures. “This is not science fiction,” said Taalas. “It is the reality of climate change. It is happening now and it will worsen in the future without urgent climate action.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres echoed the call for swift action.

“This year alone, we have seen temperature records shattered from New Delhi to Anchorage, from Paris to Santiago, from Adelaide and to the Arctic Circle. If we do not take action on climate change now,” he said, “these extreme weather events are just the tip of the iceberg. And, indeed, the iceberg is also rapidly melting. Preventing irreversible climate disruption is the race of our lives, and for our lives,” said Guterres. “It is a race that we can and must win.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/08/july-has-re-written-climate-history-month-could-go-down-as-planets-hottest-ever/

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1. Until June 2020