July Breaks Records as the Hottest Month Ever
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released global summary information, which states, "July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded for the globe." The average temperature has been 61.86°F (16.6°C), breaking 1998 and 2010 records around the world by one-seventh of a degree.
It might seem small, but it's a relatively large margin when it comes to weather records, wherein previous differences have been 20th of a degree or lower.
According to a climate scientist at NOAA, Jake Crouch, "It just reaffirms what we already know: that the Earth is warming."
"The warming is accelerating and we're really seeing it this year."
The organization has been collecting data since 1880, and January to July 2015 has been the hottest seven-month-period at 58.43°F (14.7°C). This is 1.53 degrees hotter than the average in the 20th century and a sixth of a degree hotter than records in 2010.
Another climate scientist at NOAA, Jessica Blunden, has commented she is "99% certain" that this year will be the warmest, considering temperatures around the globe have been soaring already. Oceans, in particular, are getting warmer at 1.35 degrees more than the average in the 20th century. This shouldn't be the case because they need to cool faster to prevent temperatures in the mainland from getting warm.
But it looks like people worldwide will have to deal with the heat, according to scientists from non-government organizations. The main reason is the combination of strong, almost record-breaking El Niño and man-made climate change. The warming of the Pacific Ocean affects the weather greatly.
Much of the heat wave has hit a lot of countries in the Middle East and Europe. Austria has the hottest July since 1767, while France experiences temperatures seven degrees higher than the average. On the other hand, temperatures in the Netherlands have risen to 100°F, which rarely happens. The heat index in an Iranian city is 165°F (74°C), though it hasn't broken national records yet.
But Marshall Shepherd, a climate scientist at the University of Georgia, has stated in an email that record-high temperatures don't matter.
"The records are getting attention but I worry the public will grow weary of reports of new records each month," he says.
According to him, he is more worried about the planet's response to the changes and the implications of these effects on his children.
