July 2015 has already been called the hottest month on record, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could confirm the record today when it releases its global climate report for last month.
NASA and the Japan Meteorological Agency released their own findings last week, saying that last month was the hottest July on record. If the NOAA data indicates the same, it piles on the growing evidence that the Earth is the warmest it’s been since record-keeping began in the 1800s.
Confirmation of the hottest month on record would not be insignificant.
As the NASA and Japanese data show, July could be the hottest month in at least 4,000 years.
Record-keeping dates back to the 1800s, but climate research suggests these are likely the hottest temperatures the Earth has seen since the Bronze Age.
NOAA already released a climate prediction for the United States, and forecasts that a strong El Niño is building, one that could rival the intensity of the record 1997 event that influenced weather-related havoc across the globe, from mudslides in California to fires in Australia.
“There is a greater than 90% chance that El Niño will continue through Northern Hemisphere winter 2015-16, and around an 85% chance it will last into early spring 2016,” NOAA said in a statement.