New weather data suggests July was the hottest month in recorded history, while polar sea ice has also reached record lows.
The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration released its Global Report for July 2019 on Thursday, which shows July reached an average global temperature of 16.7 C, making it the hottest month in the NOAA’s 140 years of recorded data.
This July appears to be the continuation of a trend. The NOAA said the past five Julys are the five hottest months in their data.
Additionally, July set a record low for Arctic and Subarctic ice, with 1.9 million square kilometres of ice, about 19.8 per cent below average.
Thus far, 2019 has been tied for the second-hottest year on record. It has been the hottest year, however, for parts of North and South America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Africa. Parts of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans are also showing record highs.
The previous hottest month came in July 2016, which occurred during one of the strongest El Ninos ever.El Nino is a natural warming of an ocean, which can in turn warm the Earth.
According to the United Nations, there hasn’t been a strong El Nino this year.
Two weeks ago, the UN said this July “at least equaled if not surpassed the hottest month in recorded history.” To address the rising temperatures, the global agency is hosting a summit on climate change in late September.
With files from The Associated Press
