It’s 115 Degrees in Kuwait

August 20, 2016 by Paul Ausick

As of 3:00 p.m. local time Saturday, the temperature in Kuwait City was 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Less than a month ago, the temperature in the Kuwaiti city of Mitribah hit 54 degrees Celsius (129.2°F). That’s the highest temperature ever recorded, excluding the 1913 reading in Death Valley of 134°F.

July was the hottest month ever recorded on earth. The average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was nearly 62°F, more than 1.5 degrees above the 20th century average. July 2015 was the second hottest month on record.

Other global highlights for 2016, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), include:

  • The year-to-date temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.85 degrees F above the 20th century average of 56.9 degrees F. This was the highest for January–July in the 1880–2016 record, surpassing the previous record set in 2015 by 0.34 degrees F.
  • The year-to-date globally averaged land surface temperature was 2.99 degrees F above the 20th century average of 46.8 degrees F. This was the highest for January–July in the 1880–2016 record, exceeding the previous record of 2015 by 0.61 degrees F.
  • The year-to-date globally averaged sea surface temperature was 1.42 degrees F above the 20th century average of 61.0 degrees F. This was the highest for January–July in the 1880–2016 record, besting the previous record of 2015 by 0.22 degrees F.

To top it all off, sea ice continues to recede:

  • In the Arctic, the July 2016 sea ice extent was 16.9% below the 1981 to 2010 average — the third smallest July sea ice extent since satellite records began in 1979.
  • In the Antarctic, the July 2016 sea ice extent was 0.2% above the 1981 to 2010 average — the smallest July extent since 2011 and the 19th smallest July sea ice extent on record.

If you think it’s hot out there, you’re right.

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