Record-breaking heat waves, melt-down melts, and the scorching heat of this northern summer were not isolated incidents. Global temperatures have been measured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 1880 – and July 2021 stands as the warmest month on record. At 0.93 degrees Celsius (1.67 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th-century global average, it broke a record that was set in July 2016 and has doubled since then.
The landmass of Asia and North America means that the Northern Hemisphere has an extreme tendency toward higher temperatures than the South, which is mostly buffered by the oceans. As a result, July is usually the warmest month of the year worldwide. In recent years, global warming has meant that July has often set records – not just to be the warmest in a given year, since massive recordings began.
NOAA Administrator Dr Rick Spinrad said in a statement, “In this case, the first place is the worst place.” This new record has added to the tedious and disruptive path that climate change has taken in the world.” The announcement comes the same week as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report on the dire state of the world. The record is the result of extraordinary heat in Asia and western North America. The land temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was 1.54º C (2.77º F) above average, while the whole hemisphere was 0.19º C above the previous record.
Temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere were warm for this time of year, but below the winter record, although July was the top ten warmest of all time in the country, including Australia and New Zealand. The regional situation could deviate a lot from the global average, especially in a month or less, so there were still some places where there was an extremely cold July especially South Africa and the southeastern United States.
After surpassing the average of the twentieth century, it is 45th July. The beginning of 2021, warm by historical standards, was cool for the 21st century. As a result, even after this baking northern summer, it is unlikely to break the annual record on a global scale. Nevertheless, the recent European heat record 2021 in Sicily shows that the heat record has not been broken.
