According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Earth’s average temperature for the month was 16.6°C, which is 0.81°C above the 20th century average.
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It surpassed the previous record set in 1998 by 0.08 degrees, the NOAA said.
NASA and the Japan Meteorological Agency released their own findings last week, saying that last month was the hottest July on record.
Then again, so were the last 180-ish State of the Climate Summary reports we’ve had since 2000-which, by the by, document 13 of the 15 warmest years on record.
The first seven months of this year were the hottest January-July span on record. “It’s continuing to warm”.
“Jake Crouch is a climate scientist with NOAA”.
2014 is now the hottest year on record, but 2015 is already challenging that standing. “What does that mean for people on the ground?” he told reporters. Mr Crouch said.
While July is typically the hottest month of the year, the record-breaking heat was felt around the entire world. “The warming is accelerating and we’re really seeing it this year”. But, warmer nights brought the overall July temperature to just 7-tenths-of-a-degree below normal. The other two rank second and third compared to the same months in other years.
“The biggest driver of this, I think, is El Nino”. While seemingly a small amount on paper, scientists note that it’s a large margin for weather records.
In fact, record warmth “is notable across much of this area”, NOAA says.
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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.
