UN chief: Data shows July equaled or surpassed hottest month

The latest data from the World Meteorological Organization shows the month of July "at least equaled if not surpassed the hottest month in recorded history" and it followed the hottest June ever, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday.

The UN chief told reporters that "this is even more significant because the previous hottest month, July 2016, occurred during one of the strongest El Nino's ever," which was not the case this year.

An El Nino is a natural warming of the ocean that once it interacts with the atmosphere often warms up the globe and changes rainfall and temperature patterns, making some places wetter and some places drier.

Guterres said the latest weather data, including temperature-shattering records from New Delhi and Anchorage to Paris, Santiago, Adelaide, Australia and the Arctic Circle, means the world is on track for the period from 2015 to 2019 "to be the five hottest years on record."
"Preventing irreversible climate disruption is the race of our lives and for our lives," Guterres said. "It is a race we can and must win."
He said he has told leaders from governments, business and civil society "that the ticket to entry is bold action and much greater ambition," not "beautiful speeches."
He said greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming, must be cut by 45 per cent by 2030 and "we need carbon neutrality by 2050."