‘Era of global boiling has arrived,’ says UN chief as July set to be hottest month on record

Wildfires rage in the Kınık district of İzmir, Turkey. The steady rise in global average temperatures has made weather extremes worse. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The era of global warming has ended and “the era of global boiling has arrived”, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said after scientists confirmed July was on track to be the world’s hottest month on record.

“Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning,” Guterres said. “It is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C [above pre-industrial levels], and avoid the very worst of climate change. But only with dramatic, immediate climate action.”