The average global temperature in July was 61.86 degrees Fahrenheit, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported Tuesday.
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Officials report that July 2015 was the hottest month in recorded history, and if the trend continues, 2015 will be the hottest year on record.
This could be further proof that planet is warming, with nine of the 10 hottest months on record happening since 2005. Even so, 2014, 2010 and 2005 were all warmer years, and 2015 will likely exceed the previous high by some margin.
With that record-setting July on the books, the world is on track to see the warmest year to date on record. But, warmer nights brought the overall July temperature to just 7-tenths-of-a-degree below normal.
Australia had a mild month, while Africa as a whole had its second warmest July and parts of the Middle East ended the month with temperatures reaching 50 degrees. El Niño tends to drive up the global temperature average.
“The biggest driver of this, I think, is El Nino”. That’s the 8th smallest size for the month since ice size records began in 1979, but it’s the largest area covered since 2009. The previous record was set in 1998.
Not only were the world’s oceans the warmest they’ve been in July, but they were 1.35 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency has determined that July 2015 was the warmest July on record for global surface going back to 1891.
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“This is consistent with the Met Office’s global temperature forecast which predicted that a record or near record year is very much on the cards for 2015”.
