After the warmest months of June and July on record, August is likely to follow

New record temperatures. The World Meteorological Organization had previously announced that the weather was not warmer in the months of June and July. June broke the previous record of 2020 by 0.23 degrees and July exceeded the record (from 2019) by 0.33 degrees. “This makes July not only the warmest month on record, but also the warmest month on record,” says Buienradar meteorologist Magdel Erasmus.

August was also likely the warmest August on record, as you can see in the post below:

“We didn’t notice it much in the Netherlands, but last summer was very hot in many places in the world,” says Erasmus. However, summers in the Netherlands were also warmer than average. “Normally, the average temperature is around 17.5 degrees. This summer it was 18.4 degrees,” says Sjokji Filip, a climate change researcher at KNMI.

And because of climate change, we’re also increasingly seeing extreme weather. The video below shows an example:

Heavy rainfall

According to Philip, the effects of climate change were evident this year. “Along with extreme temperatures, for example, we have seen heavy rainfall in Europe and lack of sea ice in Antarctica,” she says. “These extremes are now very clearly visible.”

Philip stresses that although temperature records may not be broken every year, weather conditions will become more extreme as long as climate change continues. Should we be concerned? She answers: “No.” “It is better to take action than to worry and do nothing.”