14 DAY TRIAL // Experts at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announce that the combined global land and ocean surface temperatures recorded this month made this July the second-warmest on record ever.
Only the month of July in 1998 was warmer than this year's, the researchers say in a new monthly analysis from the NOAA National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).
When calculating mean temperatures for the six months between January and July, the researchers noticed that this half-a-year interval was the warmest on record ever.
“The monthly analysis from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, which is based on records going back to 1880, is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides government, business and community leaders so they can make informed decisions,” officials at the Administration say.
It was additionally found that the global average land surface temperatures for July and January–July, as measured by the instruments NOAA operates, were the warmest on record yet.
What drew the overall temperature level down was the fact that the global ocean surface temperature for July was the fifth warmest ever recorded.
Additionally, the January–July mean was the second warmest, after that recorded in 1998. Experts are quick to point out that this should not be construed as a sign that the world's oceans are cooling.
“Scientists, researchers and leaders in government and industry use NOAA’s monthly reports to help track trends and other changes in the world's climate,” the authors of the new report say.
“This climate service has a wide range of practical uses, from helping farmers know what and when to plant, to guiding resource managers with critical decisions about water, energy and other vital assets,” they add.
Over the past few years, the warming trend affecting both land and the oceans has become undeniable.
Although there are still those who would argue against the existence of global warming, the sad truth is that the phenomenon is here to stay, whether we like it or not.