July 2019 was Earth’s hottest month on record, US agency says

Average global temperature for the month was 0.95 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 15.8 degrees

Record warmth shrank Arctic and Antarctic sea ice to historic lows, according to US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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A bird sits on a straw bale on a field in Frankfurt, Germany, as the sun rises during an ongoing heatwave in Europe in July. Photo: AP

Published: 3:40am, 16 Aug 2019Updated: 3:40am, 16 Aug 2019

Temperatures in July 2019 were the hottest ever recorded globally, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Thursday, while satellite data showed polar ice shrank to its lowest levels.

According to the NOAA, the average global temperature for the month was 0.95 degrees Celsius (1.71 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th century average of 15.8 degrees Celsius (60.4 degrees Fahrenheit), making it the hottest July in its records, which go back to 1880.

“Much of the planet sweltered in unprecedented heat in July, as temperatures soared to new heights in the hottest month ever recorded. The record warmth also shrank Arctic and Antarctic sea ice to historic lows,” the agency said.

A boy jumps into the water at the beach in Barcelona in July. Photo: AP

The findings confirmed data released by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service on August 5, though the margin of the new record compared to the last, in July 2016, was greater according to the US data.

Searing heatwaves saw records tumble across Europe last month, while in the US, nearly 150 million people struggled to stay cool from the Midwestern plains to the Atlantic coast and local media reported at least six deaths.

The new high is all the more notable because the previous followed a strong El Nino, which boosts average global temperatures beyond the impact of global warming alone.