For the third consecutive day, the Earth’s average temperature remained at record levels

Earth’s average temperature remained at a record high on Wednesday after two days of the planet hitting unofficial records. It is the latest indicator in a series of extremes driven by climate change.

The global average temperature was 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the University of Maines Climate reanalyzer, an instrument that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure world conditions. That matched a record set on Tuesday of 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit), and came after an earlier record of 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.6 degrees Fahrenheit) set on Monday.

Scientists have warned for months that 2023 could see record heat as human-caused climate change, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil, has warmed the atmosphere. They also noted that La Nina, the natural cooling of the ocean that had been counteracting that warming, was giving way to El Niño, the reverse phenomenon marked by ocean warming. The North Atlantic has seen record temperatures this year.

A record like this is yet another proof of the now massively supported claim that global warming it is propelling us into a warmer future, said Stanford University climatologist Chris Field, who was not part of the calculations.

University of Maine climate scientist Sean Birkle, creator of the Climate Reanalyzer, said the daily figures aren’t official but are a useful snapshot of what’s happening in a warming world.

While the figures aren’t an official government document, this gives us an indication of where we are now, said Sarah Kapnick, chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And NOAA has indicated it will consider the figures for its official calculations.

Though the dataset used for the unofficial record only dates back to 1979, Kapnick said that given more data, the world will likely see the hottest day in the several hundred years we’ve lived.

Scientists generally use much longer measurements (months, years, decades) to track global warming. But the daily highs indicate that climate change is reaching uncharted territory.

Employers in Beijing were ordered to halt outdoor work after the searing summer heat in the Chinese capital reportedly reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

A human rights group says it has found allegations of dozens of labor and environmental abuses by Chinese-owned companies involved in mining or processing minerals used in renewable energy.

President Joe Biden is heading to South Carolina to argue that his economic agenda is helping keep red states alive as well.

Hawaii has 83,000 cesspits, more than any other state, and many are close to the coast. The system has long been unsanitary, but it is increasingly also an environmental problem.

Some parts of the world have seen extraordinary heat waves.

High-temperature records were broken this week in Quebec and Peru. Beijing reported nine consecutive days last week in which the temperature exceeded 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and ordered a stop to all outdoor work on Wednesday as the highest temperatures were forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

This included communities that are not used to feeling such warmth. In North Grenville, Ontario, the city turned ice hockey rinks into cooling hubs as Wednesday temperatures hit 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), with humidity making it feel like 38 degrees (100 degrees Fahrenheit).

I feel like I live in a tropical country right now, said city spokeswoman Jill Sturdy. It’s just that it affects you. The air is so thick.

As of Wednesday, 38 million Americans were on some sort of heat alert, Kapnick said.

U.S. cities from Medford, Oregon to Tampa, Florida have reached all-time highs, said National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor.

But according to data from Climate Reanalyzer, many of the biggest temperature anomalies this week have been observed in the world’s oceans, particularly in the Southern Ocean.

Temperatures have been unusual over the ocean and especially around Antarctica this week as strong wind fronts over the Southern Ocean are pushing warm air further south, said Raghu Murtugudde, a professor of atmospheric, oceanic and environmental sciences. earth system at the University of Maryland and a visiting lecturer at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Murtugudde said the heat from the ocean is also going deeper. He said: “The oceans absorb 93% of the additional heat we are generating due to the increase in greenhouse gases and are now a huge heat sink.”

Some places have experienced unusually cold weather for the time of year, including southeast Australia and large parts of India.

With many places seeing temperatures close to 38 degrees Celsius (100.40 degrees Fahrenheit), an average temperature record of 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit) may not seem like very hot. But Tuesday’s global high was nearly a degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 1979-2000 average, which has already surpassed the 20th and 19th century averages.

Alan Harris, director of emergency management for Seminole County, Florida, said the county already surpassed last year in the number of days they activated their extreme weather plan, something that happens when the heat index reaches 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) or higher .

It’s been brutally hot for the past week, and now it’s looking like potentially two weeks, Harris said.

In the United States, heat warnings include portions of western Oregon, inland northern California, central New Mexico, Texas, Florida and coastal Carolinas, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center. Excessive heat warnings continue throughout southern Arizona and California.

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Associated Press reporter Sibi Arasu of Bangalore, India contributed to this report.

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