Preliminary data gathered by climate scientists indicate that the first week of July was the planet's hottest week on record, with scorching temperatures around the world and ocean temperatures in some regions "much higher" than climate change models predicted. According to the World Meteorological Organization, on July 7, the warmest single day on record, the average global surface temperature was 17.24 degrees Celsius, 0.3 degrees above the previous record of 16.94 degrees in August 2016. (Rob Garver)