July was world’s hottest month on record, says US agency NOAA

July was the hottest month globally ever recorded, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Friday, in the latest data to underline the climate crisis.

“July is typically the world’s warmest month of the year, but July 2021 outdid itself as the hottest July and month ever recorded,” NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said.

“This new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path that climate change has set for the globe,” Spinrad said in a statement citing data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

The NOAA said combined land and ocean-surface temperature was 1.67 degrees Fahrenheit (0.93 of a degree Centigrade) above the 20th-century average of 60.4 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the hottest July since record-keeping began 142 years ago.

The month was 0.02 of a degree Fahrenheit higher than the previous record set in July 2016, which was equaled in 2019 and 2020.