July 2016 was the hottest month on Earth since records began. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calculates that the average global land and ocean temperature was 62.01 degrees Fahrenheit (16.67C), which is 1.57F above the 20th century average. The average was 0.11F higher than July 2015, the previous record-holder for the warmest month on record. NOAA said July was the 15th month in a row in which global heat records were broken.
1 July 2016: Members of the Palestinian Red Crescent spray people with water to cool off in front of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound during the last Friday prayers of the holy Muslim fasting month of RamadanAhmad Gahrabli/AFP1 July 2016: Protesters cool off under a sprinkle as temperature reached 42C in Tehran during a parade marking al-Quds (Jerusalem) DayAtta Kenare/AFP2 July 2016: Residents bathe in the Khayali river amid high temperatures in Charsadd, PakistanA Majeed/AFP3 July 2016: Caimans (a reptile similar to alligators) stuck in the mud of the drying-up Pilcomayo river in Boqueron, on the border between Paraguay and Argentina, during the worst drought in almost two decadesJorge Adorno/Reuters9 July 2016: A woman cools off in a fountain near the Louvre pyramid in ParisLudovic Marin/AFP11 July 2016: A boy jumps into a swimming pool in Hanover, northern GermanyJulian Stratenschulte/AFP12 July 2016: A dog stands on a body board at the first Croatian beach bar specifically designed for dogs, in CrikvenicaAntonio Bronic/Reuters12 July 2016: A wildfire threatens Hotel Aldiana in the seaside resort of Alcaidesa, near Cadiz, southern SpainMarcos Moreno/AFP13 July 2016: A bear eats frozen fruits at the Bioparco zoo in Rome to cool off in the searing heatTiziana Fabi/AFP13 July 2016: A child cools off in a fountain in Kiev as a heatwave grips Ukraine and much of eastern EuropeSergei Supinsky/AFP14 July 2016: A man herds his goats across the parched bed of a lake on a hot day at Bhunerheri village in Punjab state, IndiaAFP17 July 2016: A woman walks her dog past children playing in a fountainin Bordeaux, southwestern France, as the temperature hit 30CMehdi Fedouach/AFP18 July 2016: A man soaks up the sun in a park in London with temperatures peaking at 31CDaniel Leal-Olivas/AFP19 July 2016: A man sunbathes in his shoes in Regents Park in LondonNeil Hall/Reuters19 July 2016: Two young women cool off in the Trocadero fountains in front of the Eiffel tower in ParisBertrand Guay/AFP20 July 2016: A man sprays pigs on the back of a truck with water to cool them off during temperatures of 36C (97F) in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, ChinaReuters20 July 2016: A man uses an atomiser made available for people outside a shop selling cooling and ventilation products in Baghdad, during a two-day official holiday called by Iraqi authorities due to a heat waveAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP20 July 2016: People relax as they float in dinghies down the Limmat river in Zurich during hot temperatures in SwitzerlandArnd Wiegmann/Reuters23 July 2016: A lion is fed with frozen food to help him beat the summer heat at the zoo in Valencia, SpainJose Jordan/AFP24 July 2016: Firefighters are forced to retreat as flame close in on them in Placerita Canyon as the Sand Fire ragesin Santa Clarita, CaliforniaDavid McNew/Getty Images24 July 2016: People enjoy a day in a swimming pool in the Astoria borough of New York during the 'Heat Dome' heatwaveEduardo Munoz/Reuters24 July 2016: Children play in a fountain during a heat wave in Washington, DCJoshua Roberts/Reuters25 July 2016: People jump from a diving board to cool off in a swimming pool in the village of Zllakuqan near the town of Klina as temperatures in Kosovo reached 35CArmend Nimani/AFP25 July 2016: People visit the Avenues Mall in Kuwait City, the country's largest shopping centre, as residents limit their outdoors activities due high temperaturesYasser Al-Zayyat/AFP25 July 2016: A woman sunbathes in New York after the National Weather Service issued a heat warning for the cityKena Betancur/Getty Images25 July 2016: A child cools off in a swimming pool in Tres Cantos near MadridPedro Armestre/AFP25 July 2016: A woman walks past the haze-covered Mother Motherland statue in Kiev as Ukraine is gripped by high temperaturesSergei Supinsky/AFP26 July 2016: A plane fights a wildfire burning in Artana, near Castellon, eastern SpainJose Jordan/AFP28 July 2016: Children play at the Taipei Water Park to beat the heat as maximum temperatures in Taiwan's capital reached 38.5CSam Yeh/AFP31 July 2016: Lemurs eat watermelon to cool off at a zoo in in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, as maximum temperatures remain above 38CReuters
July 2016 marks the 40th consecutive July with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th-century average: July 1976 was the last time global land and ocean temperatures for the month were below-average.
The year-to-date temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.85F above the 20th century average of 56.9F (13.8C). This was the highest temperate ever recorded for January–July since records began in 1880.
