June was the Hottest Month, Which Means 2015 May be the Most Heated on Record

First Posted: Jul 21, 2015 09:40 AM EDT

The year 2015 is on track to be the hottest on record after June saw record-high temperatures. The NOAA has announced that the combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for June 2015 was the highest for June in the 136-year period of recorded temperatures.

"This is what anthropogenic global warming looks like, just hotter and hotter," said Jonathan Overpeck, co-director of the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona, in an interview with The Guardian.

Over the past month, record temperatures were recorded in both Britain and the United States, where searing heat has led to a wave of forest fires. Not only have the temperatures been rising, though; they've been doing do at an unprecedented rate.

The average temperature in June was 1.58 degrees above the 20^th century average of 59.9 degrees. This surpasses the previous record set just one year ago by .22 degrees. This is also the fourth highest monthly departure from average for any month on record.

June is actually the fourth month this year to break its monthly temperature record, along with February, March and May. Drought has plagued the Caribbean, and torrential floods have occurred in Georgia, killing 19 and destroying the zoo in Tbilisi.

The latest findings reveal that 2015 may just turn out to be the hottest year on record. Not only does it highlight continued climate change, but it also emphasizes the importance of taking steps in order to curtail these rising temperatures.

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TagsNOAA, Climate Change, global warming, Temperatures