A combination of heatwaves across the Northern Hemisphere, unseasonable warmth in parts of South America and Antarctica, and global sea surface temperatures around 0.51°C above the 30-year average, saw July 2023 confirmed as the hottest month ever on Earth.

Climate scientists are now poring over the record-breaking data. Professor Jim Skea, the newly-elected chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), joins Graihagh Jackson to discuss how worried we should be, and the challenges ahead as he takes up the most important role in global climate science.

Producer: Ben Cooper
Researcher: Isobel Gough
Series Producer: Simon Watts
Editor: China Collins
Sound Engineers: Graham Puddifoot and Neil Churchill
Production Coordinators: Gemma Ashman, Debbie Richford and Sophie Hill