UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said billions of people will face an "epidemic" of extreme heat in the summer of 2024.
During a press conference on Thursday, July 25, the head of the international organization spoke about what surprised him about the second month of summer.
Several days ago, climatologists recorded a record average temperature on the planet. This has never happened in the entire history of observations, Reuters reports.
“Extreme heat is the new abnormal,” the UN Secretary-General said, stressing that the world must rise to the challenge and find a solution.
Guterres cites observations by scientists working within the Copernicus programme.
At first they declared July 21st the hottest day in the history of the Earth. But on July 22nd the record temperature was recorded again. On July 23rd the trend continued.
“In other words, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were the three hottest days on record,” the secretary general said.
Guterres stressed that the planet is becoming hotter and more dangerous for all its inhabitants, noting that the world is facing a real "epidemic" of extreme heat.
