Heat record broken – Sunday was the hottest day ever recorded worldwide

Sunday 21 July was the warmest day ever measured worldwide, according to the EU observation service Copernicus. The average temperature on Earth was 17.09 degrees, Copernicus announced on Tuesday.

Heat waves also all over the world
This means that the record set in July 2023 has just been surpassed. Heat waves hit the US, Russia and Europe last week.

Last year, July saw several days in a row with record values. If you look at the individual months, every month since June 2023 has been the warmest. Some scientists predict that 2024 will also replace 2023 as the warmest year.

Europe is struggling with record temperatures
Southern Europe in particular has been hit by a severe heat wave in recent days. Several forest fires broke out in Croatia and Slovenia, and in Greece tourist hotspots such as the Acropolis in Athens had to be closed.

Italy’s Health Ministry had already issued the highest heat alert level for 17 major cities on Friday, including the capital Rome, Florence and Bologna. This means that even healthy people could face negative physical effects. The Air Force’s weather service is predicting temperatures of around 38 degrees in Rome and Florence and between 36 and 37 degrees in Bologna and Perugia.

Girl collapses in the city of Vienna
Emergency services had to be called to Vienna after several members of a French youth choir collapsed during a choir practice in the center of Vienna. The collapse was probably caused by heat and lack of water. Three girls were taken to hospital.

Due to the high temperatures, the water level in Lake Neusiedl has dropped again in recent weeks. Since mid-June, when the lake even exceeded the long-term average at 115.52 meters above the Adriatic Sea, it has dropped by 15 centimeters to 115.37 meters above the Adriatic Sea. But that was “not scary”, but rather to be expected, said Christian Sailer, head of the “Lake Neusiedl Task Force”. There is also currently no danger for the fish.