July 2024 was the hottest month on record

Temperature records are no longer uncommon, but they must be marked. July 2024 was the hottest month ever recorded in China since the beginning of meteorological measurements, Chinese state media announced, as the heat wave affects several areas of the world. High temperatures in China are not an unusual event during the summer, especially in the arid west and south of the country. In the north, residents of the capital Beijing are also used to the heat at this time of year. But at the level of the entire country, China has faced extreme weather events and unusually high temperatures locally in recent months. These phenomena are exacerbated by climate change, according to several scientists. In July, the national average temperature was 23.21°C, compared to the average of 23.17°C calculated for the previous record set in 2017, public broadcaster CCTV announced, according to which July 2024 was "warmest month since full records began in 1961". This data was released last week on the day a heat red code goes into effect for the city of Shanghai. Temperatures are expected to rise further in the coming days, CCTV warned, with temperatures expected to hit 43°C in Hangzhou, a city 160 kilometers from Shanghai that is home to e-commerce giant Alibaba. Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the main factors of climate change, and China is the first emitter worldwide. The north of the country was affected in June by a particularly early summer, with temperatures among the highest since the beginning of the year. In the capital Beijing and its bordering region, the temperature exceeded the 40°C threshold. However, these heat records in China are far from being an exception worldwide. Sunday, July 21, was declared the hottest day recorded in the world since measurements began in 1940, with an average value of 17.09°C, according to the European meteorological monitoring network Copernicus. The extreme heat that affected several regions of Europe and North Africa around the Mediterranean Sea in July would have been "practically impossible" in the absence of anthropogenic climate change, concluded experts from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) reference network. In Iran, an extreme heat wave has swept over the country and generated temperatures of 50°C measured locally in recent days. Also, a historical record for electricity consumption was set in Iran. The heat wave also affects France during the Olympic Games, where athletes and spectators had to face temperatures of 35°C in Paris.