July likely to be hottest month for 'hundreds, if not thousands, of years'

Excessive heat brings unprecedented changes all over the world

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  A man pours cold water onto his head to cool off on a hot day in the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut, Lebanon. AP

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  Fog on the fields outside the city of Wehrheim, about 30km north of Frankfurt in Germany. AP

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  Visitors cover their heads from the sun after a scaled down version of the Changing of the Guard ceremony took place outside Buckingham Palace, during heavy heat in London. AP

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  A man sleeps outside his home because of the intense heat in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah. AFP

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  Holidaymakers on the beach at Sokcho, east of Seoul, South Korea. EPA

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  Travellers cross the Dal Lake in Srinagar, India, during rainfall. AFP

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  A man walks beneath pavement misters in Phoenix, Arizona. AP

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  Red Cross paramedics help a homeless man who felt dizzy in the heatwave in Mexicali, Mexico. Reuters

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  Daniel, a homeless man, cools off in a park during the heatwave in Mexicali, Mexico. Reuters

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  Pedestrians under parasols in Mirae Scientist Street in Pyongyang, North Korea. AP

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  Zookeeper Shinji Otsuru gives Elvis, the Galapagos giant tortoise, a shower at the Phoenix Zoo as Arizona battles through a heatwave. Reuters

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  Children keep cool on a fountain at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre in Athens, Greece. AP

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  Palestinians enjoy a day at the beach on the Mediterranean Sea during a heatwave in Gaza City. AP

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  A street seller protects herself from the sun with a parasol in the coastal area in Panama City, Panama.

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  Boys dive into the Bosphorus as temperatures rise above 30°C in Istanbul, Turkey. Getty

July 2023 is expected to be the hottest month yet, as people around world face record-breaking heatwaves.

Global air temperatures have climbed this month, with July 3 being the hottest day the planet has yet experienced.

This will probably be the warmest month for “hundreds, if not thousands, of years”, senior Nasa climatologist Gavin Schmidt said.

His remarks came as the US battles the heat.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said a “dangerous, long-lived, and record-breaking heatwave” will continue to affect the South-West this weekend, where temperature records have already been broken. Parts of the Mid-South, South-East and Gulf Coast are also forecast to endure oppressive heat and humidity.

Night-time temperatures will provide little relief to those in affected areas, the NWS reported.

“Temperatures and heat indexes will reach levels that would pose a health risk, and be potentially deadly to anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration,” the US weather agency said in a Friday bulletin.

A heatwave in Europe is also causing sweltering conditions along the Mediterranean with temperatures hitting 47ºC in Sardinia this week.

Meanwhile, firefighting teams in parts of Europe were rushing to assist Greece as the country continues to battle raging wildfires.

Parts of China were also facing oppressive heat, with the country's interior particularly bearing the brunt of the conditions.

“We are seeing unprecedented changes all over the world – the heatwaves that we're seeing in the US in Europe and in China are demolishing records, left, right and centre,” Mr Schmidt said.

One of the drivers is El Nino, a climate phenomenon.

El Nino forms when east-to-west trade winds weaken, causing periods of warm water. These warmer waters cause areas to experience dryer and warmer conditions than usual, the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

The NOAA declared last month that El Nino was under way after a three-year period of a cooler La Nina pattern.

El Nino can also cause thunderstorms and increased flooding.

“What we're seeing is the overall warmth, pretty much everywhere, particularly in the oceans. We've been seeing record-breaking sea surface temperatures, even outside of the tropics, for many months now,” he said.

“And we will anticipate that is going to continue, and the reason why we think that's going to continue, is because we continue to put greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.”

Mr Schmidt said there is a 50 per cent chance this year will be the hottest on record, although he said other scientists have gone as high as 80 per cent.

Agencies contributed to this report