July sets several heat records
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.0210031
Climate Central : Based on records that go back to 1880, this past July was the hottest July and also the hottest month on record globally, according to NASA. And there’s a good chance 2016 will be the hottest year to date, says Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies. Although a recent strong El Niño is partly to blame, most of the heat wave has been caused by the trapping of warm air by atmospheric greenhouse gases. With temperatures throughout the first half of the year about 1.5 °C above preindustrial times, it may prove difficult to achieve the 2 °C limit on global temperature that was set for the 21st century by world leaders at last year’s Paris climate talks.