The world’s average temperature hit a new high on Monday 3 July, surpassing 17 degrees Celsius for the first time. Scientists say this is the highest reading since the late 19th century.

The high temperature is due to a combination of the El Niño weather phenomenon and continued carbon dioxide emissions. Researchers believe there will be more record warming in the coming months as El Niño strengthens.

Since the beginning of this year, researchers have become increasingly concerned about the rapid increase in temperature on land and in the sea.

Record spring heatwaves in Spain and many Asian countries were also followed by marine heatwaves in unusual places, such as the North Sea.

This week China continued to experience a prolonged heat wave with temperatures in some places exceeding 35 degrees Celsius, while the southern US is also in sweltering conditions.

Against this background, the global average temperature reached 17.01 C on July 3, according to the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction. This broke the previous record of 16.92 C which stood from August 2016.

Monday’s high is the warmest since satellite tracking began in 1979. Experts also believe it is the highest since records began in the late 19th century.

Researchers believe the new global high is a combination of the natural El Niño phenomenon and ongoing carbon dioxide emissions caused by human activities.

The El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, as it is properly called, has three distinct phases: Warm, Cold, or Neutral. It is the most powerful variation in the climate system anywhere on Earth.

In June, scientists declared that El Niño conditions were present. This means that additional heat is now rising to the surface of the Pacific Ocean, increasing the global temperature.

“The average global surface air temperature reaching 17 degrees Celsius for the first time since we have reliable records is an important symbolic milestone in our increasingly warming world,” said climate researcher Leon Simons. “Now that the warmest phase of El Niño is underway, we can expect many more daily, monthly and annual records to be broken over the next 1.5 years.”

Monday’s record temperature comes as June was also marked as the warmest June on record worldwide.

Average temperatures across the globe were 1.46 degrees Celsius above average in the period between 1850 and 1900.

The impact of high temperatures is also being felt at the ends of the earth. In Antarctica, the July temperature record was recently broken at 8.7C according to Ukraine’s Vernadsky Research Base.

And while El Nino is expected to strengthen in the coming months, it’s likely that more records will be broken as the northern hemisphere summer continues.

“The chances are that July will be the warmest ever, and with it the hottest month ever: ‘never’ meaning since the Eemian about 120,000 years ago,” said Karsten Haustein, from the University of Leipzig.

“While temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere will cool off a bit over the next few days, it is more likely that July and August will see even warmer days as El Niño is now almost in full swing.”