World seas reach hottest July on record

The average surface temperature of the world’s seas outside the polar regions reached its highest level on record in July, breaking the previous July record set in 2023, ERR reported, citing the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Sea-surface temperature records were set along the Atlantic coast and in the western Mediterranean. The average temperature outside the Arctic and Antarctic oceans was 20.96 degrees Celsius.

The highest-ever measured average temperature of the world’s surface ocean layer was 21.09 degrees Celsius, recorded in March 2024.

Globally, this July was the second-warmest July in the measurement record, tied with July 2024. The average air temperature was 1.47 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level and just 0.01 degrees below the July 2024 figure.

Western Europe experienced an exceptionally long period of extreme heat this year. Persistent high-pressure systems kept temperatures elevated, while the extreme heat contributed to widespread drought. Once soil dries out, it can no longer cool its surroundings naturally, causing air temperatures to rise.

Dry conditions that began in May persisted and intensified across much of western Europe. France, Spain, parts of Germany and the United Kingdom received exceptionally little rainfall, and soil moisture fell to critically low levels.

In drought-hit regions, rivers carried even less water than average or reached exceptionally low levels. The Seine, Rhine and Danube were particularly badly affected. Low water levels disrupted water supplies, farmland irrigation and energy production in several countries.

Heat and drought caused extensive wildfires across Europe. According to the European Forest Fire Information System, about half a million hectares of forest and other land have burned in the European Union since the start of the year. Hot, dry and windy weather made the fires more difficult to extinguish, and the scale of the blazes set new records for this time of year.

Climate change is bringing hot and dry weather more frequently. These conditions contribute to large and highly intense landscape fires in southern Europe. Larger fires produce more smoke and send it higher into the atmosphere, allowing it to travel farther and worsening air quality across a wider region.

A heatwave affecting Central Europe broke national temperature records in several countries, including Austria and Slovakia. Heat and drought dried out vegetation and created favourable conditions for fires to spread.

The effects of heat and drought are not limited to the environment and are also damaging the economy. Preliminary estimates for this summer indicate that the heatwave in June and the destruction of crops caused grain growers about two billion euros in losses.

Economists warn that long-term damage could far exceed short-term losses, particularly in the event of a multi-year drought.