AUSTIN, Texas — In a new press release from the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Association on Monday morning, climate scientists report that July 2024 was the warmest ever recorded for the globe.
This record combines land and sea temperatures, which were 2.18 degrees above the 20th-century average of 60.4 degrees. The NOAA has been keeping these records for 175 years.
When focusing solely on sea surface temperatures, July 2024 was the second warmest month for global water temperatures. Before now, since April 2023, sea surface temperatures have set heat records for 14 months straight.
The hottest Julys ever were recorded in Europe, northern Asia and portions of Africa. Alaska, Australia, southern South America, East Russia and southern Africa were among the handful of places that recorded below-average temperatures for July.
Meanwhile, North America saw its second warmest July on record.
According to official Austin records at the Camp Mabry Army Base, which date as far back as 1897, July of this year is actually in 31st place for our hottest Julys, with an average temperature of 85.9 degrees. First and second place are still July 2023 and July 2022.