July 2021 Hottest Month On Earth, Says U.S. Weather Service

If this July has felt hotter than usual, it wasn't just your imagination. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) detailed how July 2021 "earned the unenviable distinction as the world's hottest month ever recorded."

Photo Insert: Global temperatures are now at alarming levels.

Brian Lada reported for United Press International (UPI) that previously, July 2016 held the record for the hottest month on record, when global temperatures were 1.65 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. This benchmark was reached again in 2019 and 2020.

Overall, the land and ocean surface temperatures last month were 1.67 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, according to data in the NCEI press release, topping 2016 by 0.02 F. Records of the hottest months on record date back to 1880.

"In this case, first place is the worst place to be," said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad. "July is typically the world's warmest month of the year, but July 2021 outdid itself as the hottest July and month ever recorded."

Given the global temperatures measured throughout 2021, NOAA said that it is "very likely" that 2021 will finish as the warmest year on record.

"This new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path that climate change has set for the globe," Spinrad said.

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