LOS ANGELES, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Last month was Earth's warmest July on record, extending the streak of record-high monthly global temperatures to 14 successive months, according to a new report released by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
In the monthly report released on Monday, scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information pointed out that the average July global surface temperature was 1.21 degrees Celsius above the 20th-century average of 15.8 degrees Celsius. It's the warmest July in NOAA's 175-year global record.
Last month's temperatures were above average across much of the global land surface except for Alaska, southern South America, eastern Russia, Australia and western Antarctica, said the report, adding that Africa, Asia and Europe had their warmest Julys on record, while North America saw its second-warmest July.
The report found the global ocean temperature in July was the second warmest on record, ending a streak of 15 consecutive months of record-high temperatures.
The report also showed that the year-to-date global surface temperature was 1.28 degrees Celsius above the 20th-century average, making it the warmest year-to-date global surface temperature on record.
According to the agency's Global Annual Temperature Rankings Outlook, there is a 77 percent chance that 2024 will rank as the warmest year on record and nearly a 100 percent chance it will rank in the top five.
