Climate change makes July hottest month on Earth in 2023

More than 6.5 billion people – or four out of every five people on Earth – sweated through a day in July, when climate change had the most significant impact, according to new research.

Global average temperatures and extreme heat soared to records in July 2023, said the report by Climate Central, an independent science communication group based in Princeton, New Jersey. The report analyzed daily temperatures in 4,700 cities in 200 countries. Results showed that at least two billion people worldwide “felt a very strong influence of climate change each day in July.”

“Those living near the equator and on small islands experienced the strongest influence of human-caused climate change on temperatures during July,” found the report. It also found that the July heat levels in the southern US, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean would have been “extremely unlikely without human-caused climate change”.

The report underlined the importance of having strategies to reduce global overheating and prevent people from dying of extreme heat each year.