World registers hottest day ever recorded on July 3

Monday, July 3, was the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to data from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

The average global temperature reached 17.01°C (62.62°F), surpassing the August 2016 record of 16.92°C (62.46°F) as heatwaves sizzled around the world.

The southern US has been suffering under an intense heat dome in recent weeks. In China, an enduring heatwave continued, with temperatures above 35°C (95°F). North Africa has seen temperatures near 50°C (122°F).

And even Antarctica, currently in its winter, registered anomalously high temperatures. Ukraine's Vernadsky Research Base in the white continent's Argentine Islands recently broke its July temperature record with 8.7°C (47.6°F).

"This is not a milestone we should be celebrating," said climate scientist Friederike Otto of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Britain's Imperial College London.

"It's a death sentence for people and ecosystems."

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