According to data released by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), July 2016 was not only the hottest July on record globally, but also the hottest month on record globally as well. If the trends continue for the remainder of the year, 2016 will pass 2015 as the hottest year on record. Fourteen of the warmest years on record have occurred between 2000-2015.
Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, Gavin Schmidt, said there is a 99 percent chance that 2016 will record the highest monthly average temperature globally of any month to date (http://www.climatecentral.org/news/99-percent-chance-2016-hottest-year-20359). In addition, the last 15 months between May 2015 and July 2016 have produced a record average monthly temperature globally. October 2015 was the first month in its data set to record a temperature that was higher than 1˚C compared to average.
Based on NASA’s observed climate data, July 2016 recorded a global average temperature of 0.84˚C (1.27 ˚F) above the 1951-1980 average, and 0.11 ˚C (0.2 ˚F) higher than July 2015, which was second warmest July on record since 1880.
Average global temperature anomalies in July 2016.
Credit: NASA
NASA forecasts that July will conclude the streak of record hottest months because of the dissipation of the strong El Nino which ended in June. However, global temperatures normally see a delay in cooling by about two to three months so August and September 2016 could still set new records.