Earth Endured Its Hottest Month Ever Recorded

Final data will be in on Monday
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 2, 2019 5:35 PM CDT
On Monday We'll Know Just How Hot July Was
People collect water from the public fountain in front of the Pantheon in Rome on July 25.   (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Last month was the hottest ever recorded, either equaling or surpassing July 2016—we'll know which on Monday. Preliminary data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service runs through July 29 and found the monthly global average temperature anomaly was 1.2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. The final data will be in on Monday, the Washington Post reports.

This means that Earth is headed toward having one of its three warmest years ever, hotter than expected even a few months ago. And the five years beginning in 2015 will be the warmest since at least the late 19th century "and, probably, well before that," per the Post. Rolling Stone notes that scientists have warned we must keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius; at this rate, we could exceed that by 2030. (More global temperatures stories.)

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