July was hottest month on record on Earth

The global average temperature for both land and ocean surfaces exceeded the average for the entire 20th century by 1.46 degrees Fahrenheit (0.81 degrees Celsius), NOAA researchers say.

The first seven months of 2015 have already set an all-time temperature record for the period.

In all, five months this year have set record highs for global temperatures, including the past three. July was the planet’s warmest month on record, smashing old marks, US weather officials said. “That is being shown time and time again in our data”, Jake Crouch, physical scientist at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, told reporters Thursday. Jessica Blunden, climate scientist at NOAA, is 99 percent certain that, under the current circumstances, 2015 will blow out of the water any other warm year.

If the NOAA data indicates the same, it piles on the growing evidence that the Earth is the warmest it’s been since record-keeping began in the 1800s.

The global average sea surface temperature in July was 1.35 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than it ever has been previously. All 10 of the hottest months for sea surface temperatures have occurred since April 2014, the NOAA report noted.

While July is typically the hottest month of the year, this one in particular saw warmer than usual temperatures.

July is typically the warmest month of the year. For example, in Austria the average temperature for July was 5 degrees F higher than the average they recorded between 1981-2010.

It says: “The global value was driven by record warmth across large expanses of the Pacific and Indian Oceans”.

Will 2015 Be A Record Warm Year?

If the latest temperature readings are any indication, 2015 seems to be right on track to becoming the hottest year ever – a distinction now held by 2014.

Earlier this month, the Obama administration unveiled the Clean Power Plan, the centrepiece of its broader climate change strategy that aims to slash carbon emissions from the country’s power plants.