July Earth’s Hottest Month In Earth’s Hottest Year

The Washington Post

For planet Earth, no other month was likely as hot as this past July in records that date back to the late 1800s. And the global is well on its way to having its hottest year on record.
Both NASA and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) have published data that show it was the hottest July on record. Since July is on average the planet’s warmest time of year, it’s fair to say temperatures this past month were at or very close to their highest point in the history of instrumental records*.
NASA’s map of July temperatures shows large areas of much warmer than normal temperatures in the Pacific Northwest, western Europe, central Asia and Africa. It also reveals the telltale signature of the powerful El Nino event, portrayed by the much warmer than normal sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central tropical Pacific.
[Heat records all over: The Northern Hemisphere is in hot water]

July temperature difference from 1951-1980 average (NASA)

The heat from El Nino not only manifested itself over the tropical Pacific, but also likely boosted temperatures in other areas due to its ripple effects on global weather patterns. In sum, NASA data reveal July 2015’s average temperature edged July 2011 as the warmest on record(by 0.02 degrees), making back-to-back months of record-setting temperatures after a toasty June. Every month this year has ranked among the top four warmest in NASA’s analysis.
In JMA’s analysis, the last three months (May, June, and July) have ranked warmest on record. In fact, 5 of 7 months so far this year have ranked warmest on record in JMA’s analysis. The two other months (February and April) ranked third warmest.

Time series of July temperature difference from average (Japan Meteorological Agency)

NOAA’s analysis of temperatures for July is not yet available, but should be published in the next few days. The first half of 2015 ranked as the warmest on record in NOAA’s analysis, with three of the first six months warmest on record.
[Chart-topping June extends Earth’s warmest period on record]
Considering every month this year has ranked among the top several warmest if not the warmest on record for the planet, it is almost an inevitability that 2015 will be the warmest year on record. Both the “significant and strengthening” El Nino event along with the longer-term warming trend due to rising concentrations of manmade greenhouse gases are taking temperatures to new heights.