World registers hottest day since records began — with fresh highs expected in the coming weeks

The world’s average temperature climbed to its highest level since records began on Tuesday, according to provisional data from U.S. researchers, underscoring the pressing need to slash greenhouse gas emissions fueling the climate emergency.

The planet’s average daily temperature climbed to 17.18 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, an unofficial tool that is often used by climate scientists as a reference to the world’s condition.

The milestone comes just one day after global average temperatures topped 17 degrees Celsius for the first time in 44 years, when the data was first collected. The previous record of 16.92 degrees Celsius had stood since Aug. 14, 2016 — the warmest year ever recorded.