ROME (AP) — The world experienced its third-warmest July on record this year, the European Union agency that tracks global warming said Thursday, with temperatures easing slightly for the month as compared with the record high two years ago.
Despite the slightly lower global average temperature, scientists said extreme heat and deadly flooding persisted in July.
“Two years after the hottest July on record, the recent streak of global temperature records is over — for now. But this doesn’t mean climate change has stopped,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. “We continued to witness the effects of a warming world.”
The EU monitoring agency said new temperature records and more climate extremes are to be expected unless greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are brought down. On July 25, Turkey recorded its highest-ever temperature of 50.5 C (122.9 F) as it battled wildfires.