July 2021 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, according to data released by the US .
The US National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) said the combined land and ocean-surface temperature around the world was 1.67 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 15.8 C.
This temperature breaks by 0.02 degrees the previous record set in 2016, and then matched in 2019 and 2020.
“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. This new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path that climate change has set for the globe.”
The findings come after the EU’s climate monitoring programme said that last month was the second hottest in Europe on record and the third hottest ever globally.
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said that the only hotter July in Europe was in 2010.
Last month tied with July 2020 as the third hottest ever across the world, behind only 2019 and 2016, according to the EU service.
The discrepancy depends on the different methodologies used in treating areas with little or no data.
A climatologist with NOAA said: “Differences between each data set are bound to happen and these are mainly due to how each methodology treats areas with little to no data. This can lead to minor differences in temperature anomalies and thus in ranks.”
“However, the take away from all of this is that these different data sets are very close to each other and agree that the global surface temperature is increasing.”
Heatwaves struck Europe, from the Baltics to the eastern Mediterranean. France and Spain experienced an average of 200 wildfires a week, compared with an respective average of 38 and 81 in the preceding 12 years.
Rainfall has also been much higher than average in western parts of central Europe.
The records have been attributed to climate change, which a landmark report by scientists warned this week would trigger a global catastrophe without immediate, rapid and large-scale action to reduce emissions across the world.
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