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Scientists are getting all hot and bothered about climate change as the Earth experiences its hottest day ever recorded.

As heatwaves sizzled around the world, the average global temperature reached 17,01°C on Monday, surpassing the August 2016 record of 16,92°C.

According to Al Jazeera, scientists are now warning that we can expect more records to fall this year as climate change and an emerging El Nino pattern make the mercury climb.

Although the US has been under a dome of extreme temperature for the last week as the summer settles in, China is also enduring a heatwave with temperatures above 35°C. These countries have nothing on Africa though as the northern parts of the continent saw temperatures near 50°C.

Now you might think the southern hemisphere is not really affected by these rising temperatures, but even Antarctica had a balmy 8,7°C, which scientists are calling an ‘anomalously high temperature’.

“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 Imperial College London.

“It’s a death sentence for people and ecosystems.”

That old foe, climate change, is mostly to blame, but combined with an emerging El Nino pattern, sh*t’s getting a bit too hot now.

“Unfortunately, it promises to only be the first in a series of new records set this year as increasing emissions of [carbon dioxide] and greenhouse gasses coupled with a growing El Nino event push temperatures to new highs.”

Yup, it’s a bit of a mess on the planet at the moment, with heatwaves, wildfires, and air pollution, to floods and extreme storms. Mother Nature seems to be getting a bit feisty this decade, which is not a good thing for humans.

Have a look at the below video which deals with some of the previous hottest days for an idea of how damaging a rise in global temperatures can be.

Whether you believe in climate change or think Greta Thunberg is a silly kid who needs to sit down, the evidence of our contribution to global warming is starting to pile up. Hopefully, we will get to grips with this existential nightmare before we all go the way of the dodo.

[source:guardian&aljazeera]