The UN has said climate change is “out of control” after the world smashed its average daily temperature record for the third time this week. The planetary average reached 17.23C on Thursday according to unofficial data from climate scientists, the hottest since records began. It followed record-breaking heat days on Monday and Tuesday.
Responding to the figures, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “Climate change is out of control. If we persist in delaying key measures that are needed, I think we are moving into a catastrophic situation.”
Campaigners and experts insist new fossil fuels projects must be abandoned and greenhouse gas emissions drastically curbed to prevent global warming spiralling into chaos.
Parts of the world continue to swelter in dangerous heat, like Jingxing, China, where the mercury hit 43.3C on Thursday. Even in Antarctica, temperatures across much of the icy continent are around 4.5C higher than normal this week.
Meanwhile, scientists are grappling with massive recent spikes in ocean warming as a “severe” marine heatwave has been declared in the North Atlantic off the British coast.
Data from the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer, which logged the daily temperature records, also found the seven-day period ending on Wednesday was the world’s hottest week in 44 years of record-keeping.
It comes after the Met Office declared last month was Scotland and the UK’s hottest June since records began in the 19th century. They added the heatwave had been made at least twice as likely due to man-made climate change.
Average temperatures for June in the UK hit 15.8C - nearly a full degree hotter than the joint previous record of 14.9C in 1940 and 1976.
In Scotland, the daily mean temperature of 14.3C was the country’s hottest ever recorded for June and 2.7C higher than average. Experts say the scorching weather killed thousands of fish in British rivers.
The International Energy Agency has said that there can be no new investments in oil, gas or coal if governments are serious about addressing the climate crisis.
Speaking yesterday, Robert Watson, former chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said states, firms and citizens "are not truly committed to address climate change”. He added: "They demand cheap energy, cheap food and do not want to pay the true cost of food and energy.”
In a statement on Thursday, the Scottish Greens urged UK ministers to drop plans for the controversial new Rosebank oil field off Shetland, citing the sizzling temperatures.
MSP Maggie Chapman hit out: “We are seeing soaring temperatures, wildfires and climate chaos across the world, including here in Scotland. Yet the fossil fuel giants and complicit governments like the one in Downing Street are planning even more oil and gas exploration.
“Developing and drilling Rosebank would be a climate disaster. It would make an already unsustainable situation even worse, and would pave the way for even greater climate breakdown."
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