July was Earth’s hottest month ever recorded, ‘‘on a par with, and possibly marginally higher’’ than the previous warmest month, which was July 2016, according to provisional data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
The European climate agency will have a full report for all of July on Monday, but a spokesperson said enough data (through July 29) has already come in to make the declaration.
The monthly global average temperature anomaly was 2.16 degrees (1.2 Celsius) above preindustrial levels, the center reported in its preliminary figures Friday.
On Thursday, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres cited the data at a news conference as an example of why more ambitious action to cut planet-warming greenhouse gases is needed.