LONDON/WASHINGTON, 19 August. - (ANA) - July 2019 was the hottest July and the hottest month on record globally since temperature records began in a year of many record-breaking temperatures as heat waves hit many parts of the world.

 

This trend of high temperatures and heatwaves looks set to continue, with more extreme heat set to hit parts of the U.S. and the U.K. this week, making for a warm August. Scientists say that as long as the world continues to emit greenhouse gases at the current rates, climate change-related impacts will continue to be felt.

 

“If you put all of the Julys for the last 20 or 40 or 100 years, there’s a clear trend upward. That’s the concern — that long-term trend. Not a single day or single month in particular,” says Michael Allen, a climate scientist at Old Dominion University.

 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the figures Thursday, confirming that worldwide, July was 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit (.95 degrees Celsius) warmer than the average of 56.9 degrees Fahrenheit. The record-setting July follows the hottest June on record, rising .71 degrees Fahrenheit (0.95 Celsius) above the average temperature for that month.

 

Regions across the world experienced record-breaking temperatures; the continent of Africa experienced its hottest month on record, and countries across Europe — including France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, and Luxembourg — experienced the hottest days in their nations’ history.

 

Announcing the figures, Deke Arndt of NOAA said that the land temperature was the second hottest on record, measured at 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the average for July, while the ocean was the warmest on record for July, at around 1.5 degree Fahrenheit warmer than the 20th century average.

 

However, climate scientists say that while the high temperatures were troubling, the real problem is that they’re part of a larger pattern. Last month was the 43rd July in a row — and the 415th consecutive month — with temperatures about the 20th century average.

 

According to NOAA, there are three big reasons why the global temperature was so hot.

 

First, if the global temperature is going to set a record, it’s mostly going to be in July, which worldwide is the hottest month of the year.

 

Second, there’s a normal amount of variability in the weather. The most significant factor was that earlier this year, El Niño warm weather conditions formed on the Pacific, causing warmer-than-average weather conditions.

 

However, NOAA and climate scientists agree that one of the most important reasons that the world is within striking distance of setting global temperatures is climate change. Arndt says that the records are “almost entirely due to climate change.”

 

NOAA scientists have warned rising greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere impacts the climate.

 

“Greenhouse gas pollution traps heat in the atmosphere, which has consequences,” James Butler, director of NOAA’s Global Monitoring Division, said in May. “There’s no getting around it — burning fossil fuels is changing the course of our planet’s future. How society deals with that will be a major challenge in coming decades.”  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/19 August 2019 - - -