DisastersJuly 2015 the hottest month on record since measurements began in 1880

Global warming continues unabated. The latest NOAA report notes that July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded for the globe – that is, the warmest month since 1880, when temperature measurements were taken in a systematic fashion for the first time. The July globally averaged land surface temperature was 1.73°F (0.96°C) above the twentieth century average. The year-to-date temperature combined across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.53°F (0.85°C) above the twentieth century average. This was the highest for January–July in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set in 2010 by 0.16°F (0.09°C).

NOAA highlights these findings of the report:

Global highlights: July 2015

• The July average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.46°F (0.81°C) above the twentieth century average. As July is climatologically the warmest month for the year, this was also the all-time highest monthly temperature in the 1880–2015 record, at 61.86°F (16.61°C), surpassing the previous record set in 1998 by 0.14°F (0.08°C).
• Separately, the July globally-averaged land surface temperature was 1.73°F (0.96°C) above the twentieth century average. This was the sixth highest for July in the 1880–2015 record.
• The July globally-averaged sea surface temperature was 1.35°F (0.75°C) above the twentieth century average. This was the highest temperature for any month in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set in July 2014 by 0.13°F (0.07°C). The global value was driven by record warmth across large expanses of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• The average Arctic sea ice extent for July was 350,000 square miles (9.5 percent) below the 1981–2010 average. This was the eighth smallest July extent since records began in 1979 and largest since 2009, according to analysis by the National Snow and Ice Data Center using data from NOAA and NASA.
• Antarctic sea ice during July was 240,000 square miles (3.8 percent) above the 1981–2010 average. This was the fourth largest July Antarctic sea ice extent on record and 140,000 square miles smaller than the record-large July extent of 2014.

Global highlights: Year-to-date (January–July 2015)

• The year-to-date temperature combined across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.53°F (0.85°C) above the twentieth century average. This was the highest for January–July in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set in 2010 by 0.16°F (0.09°C).
• The year-to-date globally-averaged land surface temperature was 2.41°F (1.34°C) above the twentieth century average. This was the highest for January–July in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2007 by 0.27°F (0.15°C).
• The year-to-date globally-averaged sea surface temperature was 1.21°F (0.67°C) above the twentieth century average. This was also the highest for January–July in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2010 by 0.11°F (0.06°C). Every major ocean basin observed record warmth in some areas.

— Read more in Global Analysis — July 2015 (NOAA, August 2015)