July was Earth’s hottest month in modern times: US

Miami (AFP) – July marked the Earth’s hottest month in modern times, setting a new high mark for global heat in 137 years of record-keeping, US government scientists said Wednesday.

In its monthly report, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the global average of temperatures taken over land and ocean surfaces for July 2016 “was the highest for both the month of July and for any month in the NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880.”

The new record beats out July 2015, the previous holder for the planet’s warmest month.

It also marks the 15th consecutive month of breaking monthly temperature records, “the longest such streak in the 137-year record,” NOAA said.

Last month’s temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.57 Fahrenheit above the 20th century average of 60.4 degrees F (15.8 Celsius).

The NOAA data was released two days after NASA’s monthly figures, which also showed July was a record-breaker for global heat.