These Pictures Show What The Hottest Month Ever Recorded Looked Like

July brought extreme heat waves to Europe and North America, unprecedented ice melt in Greenland, and massive wildfires in the Arctic.

by Gabriel H. Sanchez

BuzzFeed News Photo Essay Editor

Posted on August 15, 2019, 10:55 pm

It wasn’t just you — July was hot. In fact, it was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth’s temperature in July 2019 was 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average, the warmest month since record-keeping began in 1880. Of the the 10 warmest Julys on record, nine have occurred since 2005.

Record-high temperatures were reported across the globe during the month as heat waves swept across parts of North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Ocean temperatures were also the warmest ever recorded in any July. Year-to-date, 2019 is now tied with 2017 as the second-warmest year ever recorded.

In the rapidly warming Arctic, sea ice melted to a record low for July to 19.8% below the 1981–2010 average. The rising temperatures are consistent with climate change, which scientists say is caused by humans burning fossil fuels and emissions of other potent greenhouse gases.

These pictures show how the record warming affected the globe this July.