It’s true that July is typically the hottest month of the year in the northern hemisphere. You might have heard or said more than once, “I don’t ever remember it being this hot!” during the summer months. However, this year, it really happened: July, 2015, was the hottest month on record.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced last week July was the hottest month worldwide since record-keeping began in 1880, according to an article from USA Today. The record is based on both land and ocean temperatures.
Not only did last month set that record, it was also the 39th consecutive July with an above-average global temperature. Jake Crouch, NOAA climate scientist, told the Associated Press that this reaffirms the Earth is warming. He noted the combination of a strong El Niño effect (a regularly occurring shift in climate patterns in the Pacific that results in unusually warm water and other impacts) and man-made contributions to climate change, results in this extreme heat.
Take Action Challenge
For more details and a brief video, go to the USA Today article. Did you feel the heat this summer? The United States didn’t experience as much of an increase as other areas in the world. Where were you this summer, and how did the heat affect you? What do you do to combat climate change where you live?