July 2023 was the hottest month ever

(Patria) - July 2023 was the hottest month recorded so far, and next year could be even warmer, warned scientists from the American space agency NASA.

"This July was significantly warmer than any previous July and any previous month, since 1880. The long-term trend of dramatic warming that has lasted for four decades continues," stated the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), Gavin Schmidt.

Temperatures in parts of South and North America, North Africa, and Antarctica were around four degrees above the monthly average for the period 1951-1980. In the countries of Northern Europe and parts of the American Midwest, temperatures were closer to average, NASA announced.

Overall, last month was 1.18 degrees Celsius warmer compared to the average July temperatures from 1951 to 1980.

This shows that the long-term warming trend is continuing, primarily influenced by greenhouse gas emissions.

The temperature in July this year was 0.24 degrees higher than all temperatures recorded by NASA in July, and the five hottest months since 1880 have occurred in the last five years, according to GISS data.

GISS collects data on surface air and sea surface temperature from tens of thousands of meteorological stations.

High sea surface temperatures, especially in the eastern Pacific, also contributed to the record July temperature, indicating the development of the El Niño meteorological phenomenon, which has the effect of further warming the planet.