July 2015 warmest month ever recorded for the globe: NOAA

July 2015 was the warmest month ever recorded for the globe, with average temperatures across global land and ocean surfaces 0.81°C above the 20th century average, according to the State of the Climate: Global Analysis for July 2015 report from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) released this week.

As July is climatologically the warmest month for the year, this was also the all-time highest monthly temperature in the 1880-2015 record at 16.61°C, surpassing the previous record in 1998 by 0.08°C, NCEI, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, noted in the report.

In addition, the July globally-averaged land surface temperature was 0.96°C above the 20th century average – the sixth highest for July in the 1880-2015 record. The average temperature for Africa was the second highest for July on record, behind only 2002, with regional record warmth across much of eastern Africa into central areas of the continent. Record warmth was also observed across much of northern South America, parts of southern Europe and central Asia, and the far western United States.

The July globally-averaged sea surface temperature was 0.75°C above the 20th century average, “the highest temperature for any month in the 1880-2015 record, surpassing the previous record set in July 2014 by 0.07°C,” the report said. The global value was driven by record warmth across large expanses of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. [click image below to enlarge]

The oceans were much warmer than average across vast expanses, with much of the eastern and equatorial Pacific Ocean, the Barents Sea in the Arctic and parts of the western North Atlantic and Indian Ocean record warm. In the North Atlantic, a large region south of Greenland was much cooler than average, with some record cold embedded in that area. Over land, only part of eastern Canada was much cooler than average during January-July, the report noted.

Related: April northern hemisphere sea surface temperature was 0.63 degrees warmer than 20th Century average: NOAA

For year-to-date (January to July 2015), the report pointed out the following:

• Temperature combined across global land and ocean surfaces was 0.85°C above the 20th century average. This was the highest for January–July in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set in 2010 by 0.09°C;

• The globally-averaged land surface temperature was 1.34°C above the 20th century average. This was the highest for January–July in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2007 by 0.15°C;

• The globally-averaged sea surface temperature was 0.67°C above the 20th century average. This was also the highest for January–July in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2010 by 0.06°C; and

• Every major ocean basin observed record warmth in some areas.

Globally, Austria recorded its hottest July since national records began in 1767, with the average temperature 3°C higher than the 1981-2010 average. France had its third warmest July in its 116-year period of record; overall, the temperature was 2.1°C higher than the 1981-2010 average.

But United Kingdom, despite observing record-breaking heat in southern parts of the country at the beginning of July, including the highest temperature recorded in the country since August 2003, had an overall July temperature 0.7°C lower than the 1981-2010 average. And Norway experienced cooler-than-average temperatures for the third consecutive month, with the average July temperature 0.7°C lower than the 1961-1990 average.