July began with world's hottest week on record, says UN; warns of ‘devastating impact’
2023 to become hottest year ever? Global temperature rises by 1.5 degrees Alarm bells had started ringing last week as sweltering heat blanketed much of the planet. On Thursday, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday that June 2023 had smashed all previous records by a substantial margin.
It was the third time in less than a week that the ‘world's hottest day’ record had been broken. The past few weeks have been marked with a slew of natural catastrophes - from a drought in Spain to fierce heat waves in China as well the United States.
A third heatwave recently killed more than 100 people in Mexico. Meanwhile, Switzerland said on Monday it experienced its hottest year on record in 2022 with small glaciers “practically disappearing".
A record-setting 6% of the remaining ice melted away from Swiss glaciers in 2022. As well as withering crops, melting glaciers and raising the risk of wildfires, higher-than-normal temperatures also cause health problems ranging from heatstroke and dehydration to cardiovascular stress.
Research published on Monday found that more than 61,000 people had died due to the heat during Europe's record-breaking summer last year. (With inputs from agencies)
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