July set to become world’s hottest month on record: What happened?

 July 2023 has broken global temperature records, raising fears about what patterns could next emerge.

By Inam ullah

Published On 31 Jul 202331 Jul 2023

July will likely be the world’s hottest month on record and possibly the warmest in 120,000 years, according to climate scientists.

“We don’t have to wait for the end of the month to know this. Short of a mini-Ice Age over the next days, July 2023 will shatter records across the board,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday.

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It comes as heat waves sizzled large swathes of Europe, North Africa, North America and Asia.

Temperature records broken

The first three weeks of July marked the warmest period on record compared to previous averages of the first 23 days of July from 1940 to 2023.

It broke the prior record set for the full month of July in 2019 of 16.63C (61.93F) to reach 16.95C (62.51F) surface air temperature.

Temperatures in the first and third weeks also briefly rose above the 1.5C (34.7F) limit set forth in the Paris Agreement.

July 6 was the hottest day, according to ERA5 data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service with the global average temperature reaching 17.08C (62.74F).

In a joint statement the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said it was “extremely likely” July 2023 would break the record.

Protesters attack French embassy in Niger

 

Niger coup makers say ousted govt ‘authorised French attack to free Bazoum’

Coup makers have warned against foreign attempts to extract detained President Bazoum, saying it would result in bloodshed and chaos.

The coup leaders who seized power last week in Niger have alleged that the toppled government had authorised France to carry out an attack on the presidential palace to try to free President Mohamed Bazoum.

The claims were made on Monday by Colonel Amadou Abdramane, one of the coup 

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West African gov’ts give Niger coup leaders a week to cede powerplotters, on state television. He said the authorisation was signed by Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou, acting as prime minister. The claims could not be independently verified.

The whereabouts of Massoudou and Bazoum remain unknown.

France, Niger’s former colonial ruler, has condemned the coup and urged Bazoum to be reinstated but has not announced any intention to intervene militarily.

The presidential guard, which seized power last week after blocking Bazoum inside the palace in the capital, Niamey, has previously warned against foreign attempts to extract the president, saying it would result in bloodshed and chaos.

Abdramane’s comments also come a day after the 15-nation regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded that Bazoum be reinstated within a week at an emergency summit in neighbouring Nigeria.The bloc said it would take “all measures” to restore constitutional order otherwise.

“Such measures may include the use of force for this effect,” it said in a statement.

Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby visited Niamey on Sunday as an ECOWAS envoy and posted photos of separate meetings with Bazoum and Omar Tchiani, the head of the presidential guard who has been named head of state.

ECOWAS also imposted strict sanctions, including suspending all commercial and financial transactions between its member states and Niger and freezing of assets in regional central banks.

Economic sanctions could have a deep impact on Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries which relies on imports from Nigeria for up to 90 percent of its power, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.The sanctions could be disastrous and Niger needs to find a solution to avoid them, Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou told French media outlet Radio France Internationale on Sunday.

“When people say there’s an embargo, land borders are closed, air borders are closed, it’s extremely difficult for people … Niger is a country that relies heavily on the international community,” he said.

Landlocked Niger has had a turbulent political history since gaining independence in 1960. Before Wednesday, there had been four coups and numerous other attempts, including two previously against Bazoum.

Video Duration 01 minutes 12 seconds01:12

Niger general Tchiani self-proclaimed leader after coup