Heat Records Fall Around the Globe as Earth Warms, Fast

The last three days were quite likely the hottest in Earth’s modern history, scientists said, as an astonishing surge of heat across the planet continued to shatter temperature records from North America to Antarctica.

The spike comes as forecasters warn that the Earth is entering a multiyear period of exceptional warmth driven by two main factors: humans continuing to burn oil, gas and coal alongside the return of El Niño, a cyclical weather pattern, after three years.

Already, the surge has been drastic. The planet just experienced its warmest June ever recorded, European researchers said, with deadly heat waves in Texas, Mexico and India. In the North Atlantic, ocean temperatures were 2.9 degrees Fahrenheit hotter in May than they typically are at that time of year. Around Antarctica, sea ice levels have plunged to record lows.

And the heat shows no signs of letting up. On Monday, global average temperatures reached 62.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 17 degrees Celsius, the hottest day ever recorded, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, which combines…