July 2015 hottest ever recorded
If the weather seems warmer to you this year, you are not imagining it. US weather experts say this past July was the hottest month ever recorded and that 2015 will almost certainly break a record for the warmest year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on August 20 that the average global temperature for July was 16.6 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record set in 1998. The global temperature since January was 0.85 degrees above the 20th century average – the warmest January through July temperature ever recorded.
Areas that saw usually hot weather in July included western Europe – particularly Austria, Britain, France, and the Netherlands – and the Middle East. On July 31, Bandar Mahshahr, Iran reported a heat index of 74 degrees Celsius.
NOAA records date back to 1880. The agency’s scientists point to a combination of human activity and the warming of the Pacific Ocean near the equator – a phenomenon called El Nino – for the record warmth.
The experts say nine of the last 10 warmest months on record have come since 2005.
Source: VOANews.com
(Photo: Nate Brelsford/sxc.hu)
