Earth’s average temperature has reached a new high for the third time this week, according to unofficial records.
The planetary average hit 17.23C, surpassing the 17.18 degree mark set Tuesday and equaled Wednesday, according to a group of US scientists.
It also broke the 17.01C record set on Monday.
The data from the University of Maine uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world’s condition.
Experts say it is driven by human-induced climate change and the warming affects of the El Niño weather pattern, the phenomenon of the warming of sea surface temperature that occurs every few years.
The average includes places suffering dangerous heat, like Jingxing, China, which recorded a temperature of 43.3C.
It also includes places which are recording unusually warm temperatures, like Antarctica, where temperatures across much of the continent were as much as 4.5C above normal this week.
Some climate scientists have said they weren’t surprised to see the results of the analysis.
Robert Watson, former chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said governments and the private sector “are not truly committed to addressing climate change.”
Nor are citizens, he said, adding: “They demand cheap energy, cheap food and do not want to pay the true cost of food and energy.”
Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London, told the BBC: “Climate scientists aren’t surprised about the global daily temperature record being broken, but we are very concerned.
However, she added it should be a “wake-up call” for those promoting fossil fuels.
The University of Maine’s findings are conducted by a tool called the Climate Reanalyzer, which is not an official source of data. However, it is closely watched as a sign of what is happening with the climate.
Last month was the hottest June on record, while the Met Office has concluded that climate change made the June heat more than twice as likely. The heat caused a dramatic spike in fish deaths in British rivers.
