In July, the average temperature in the United States of America was 75.3 degrees, almost 2 degrees hotter than the 20th century average, the NOAA reported.
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NASA calculated that July 2016 was 1.51 degrees Fahrenheit (0.84 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1950-1980 global average. This July was also the hottest month on record for the world, confirmed a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Wednesday.
NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies announced that July 2016 was the warmest July in 136 years. The previous record-holder for hottest month was July 2011. Records go back to 1880. NOAA has figured there have been 14 monthly heat records broken in a row, before July.
Earth just broiled to its hottest month in recorded history, according to NASA.
July marked the Earth’s hottest month in modern times, setting a new high mark for global heat in 137 years of record-keeping, USA government scientists said Wednesday (Aug 17).
After top temperatures in the low 20s during the first half of the month, sunbathers basked in a mini heatwave from July 16-20 as temperatures climbed into the 30s.
While 2016, 2015, and 2014, were all record-breaking years as far as global temperatures, this streak was partly the result of the incipient El Niño, which is now coming to an end.
Nations have agreed to keep the rise of global temperatures below 2˚C (3.6˚F) by the end of this century, and are discussing aiming for an even more ambitious 1.5˚C (2.7˚F). But temperatures for the year-to-date have been hovering close to 1.5˚C above preindustrial times all year.
With forecasts for La Niña, which tends to cool global temperatures, suggesting the event may arrive later and be weaker than previously predicted, there will likely be less of an effect on temperatures this year.
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These are only small blips on the overall long-term trend of warming, which tips the odds toward record heat and away from record cold.
