July 21 was hottest day ever recorded

Sunday was the hottest day ever recorded, breaking global temperatures dating back to 1940, according to preliminary data from Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The average global temperature climbed to 17.09 Celsius, narrowly edging the previous record set in July 2023. Climatologists say the extreme difference between the consecutive records of the last 13 months and the previous decades are staggering.

“We are now in uncharted territory,” Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus said in a statement. “As the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years.”

June marked the first time the world spent an entire year where the average monthly temperature exceeded 1.5 C above pre-industrial norms. An average increase of 1.5 C is the limit set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which most climatologists consider the highest amount of climate change allowable without causing irreversible effects.

The current quantity of human-induced warming is estimated to be around 1.2 C above pre-industrial norms, but a recent study by the World Meteorological Organization found the world’s temperature will likely temporarily exceed the 1.5 C threshold in the next five years.

Weather forecast

Sunday’s record was just 0.01 C above the previous benchmark of 17.08 C, part of a string of new daily highs set in July and August of last year, but nearly a third of a degree higher than the previous record set in 2016.

Copernicus scientists say the beginning of this week could be even warmer before cooling, but add it is too early to say if 2024 will become the hottest year on record. As many as 400 daily temperature records have been broken in Western Canada and the territories during the month of July, according to Environment Canada.

Last year was likely the warmest of the past 100,000 years, the result of increased greenhouse gas emissions and El Niño, a warming weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Temperatures have been consistently rising for decades, with the past decade forming the top ten years with the highest daily average temperature.

Climate change driving extreme weather

In Canada, the impact of climate change is more pronounced as warming in the Arctic is happening at a rate roughly four times faster than the rest of the world.

The impacts are leading to melting permafrost, thinning and disappearing sea ice and a direct change to the climate systems that dictate weather around the world.

“It’s affecting ocean currents, and clearly having a position on the jet stream,” David Phillips, senior climatologist at Climate Change and Environment Canada. “Don’t think it’s skinny polar bears and melting ice caps in the north, it does affect our weather.”

On Sunday, parts of the Northwest Territories and British Columbia were at least 6 C above the average of the past three decades including in Lytton, B.C. which recorded a daily high of 42.2 C.

Climate change is also being linked to natural disasters and Canada’s growing wildfire season as warming temperatures, stronger winds and fewer rains create dangerous conditions.

This week, wildfires forced thousands of people to evacuate Jasper National Park and hundreds more to flee their homes in central Newfoundland.

Research from World Weather Attribution suggests the likelihood of extreme fire weather conditions doubled in eastern Canada as a result of global warming. On the East Coast, the threat of storm season is worsened by rising sea surface temperatures, which hit an all-time high in June.

“No wonder there is concern about the hurricane season out there. The fuel from those storms comes from the sea-surface temperatures,” Phillips said.

Provinces call for more disaster relief funding

Last week Canada’s premiers issued a letter to the federal government calling for increased funding for emergency preparedness and response, including the development of a national flood insurance program and more disaster mitigation action.

Ottawa budgeted $15-million towards the creation of a low-cost flood insurance program under the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation, slated for 2025, along with an additional $1.4-million to improve Canada’s extreme weather early warning system.

Monday, the federal government said it will replace some official documents free of charge for Canadians impacted by this year’s wildfire season.