Temperatures across all continents broke all records for heat last month according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the scientific and regulatory agency for the United States.
Data published this week by NOAA showed that the combined land and sea surface temperature was almost one degree higher than the average for the last century, putting it in the record books for Earth’s highest temperature since records back 142 years ago. It is the third year in succession that the July record has been broken.
The recorded temperature was 0.93C above the average of 15.8C. “In this case, first place is the worst place to be,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “July is typically the world’s warmest month of the year, but July 2021 outdid itself as the hottest July and month ever recorded. This new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path that climate change has set for the globe.”
Continents across the planet suffered under the heat. Asia had its hottest July ever, beating a record set in 2010; Europe saw its second hottest July, while the remaining continents all recorded July’s that were in their top ten.
“Scientists from across the globe delivered the most up-to-date assessment of the ways in which the climate is changing,” Spinrad said in a statement. “It is a sobering IPCC report that finds that human influence is, unequivocally, causing climate change, and it confirms the impacts are widespread and rapidly intensifying.”
Knock-on effects from the extreme heat saw the fourth smallest sea ice coverage for July, while the tropics recorded a busier than usual season of storms.
