US scientists declare July 2021 to be the world's hotter month so far

July 2021 has been recorded as the hottest month in the world ever recorded in 142 years. US scientists have confirmed it to be a sign of the unfolding climate crisis.

Rick Spinrad, the administrator of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that July 2021 outdid itself even though July is the world's warmest month of the year. "This new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path that climate change has set for the globe."

The NOAA climate report said that the Arctic sea ice extent was more than 18% below an average set between 1981 to 2010. It is the fourth-smallest extent since satellite recording began in 1979.

The report says that the global land and ocean surface temperature in July was one degree Celsius, 0.9C (1.6F), hotter than the 20th-century average of 15.8C (60.4F), reported The Guardian.

Last month, several parts of the world recorded soaring temperatures. Europe reported heat waves and wildfires. Italy recorded its second hottest July and reported wildfires. Australia had its fourth warmest July on record. And North America saw a heat dome which came with extreme heat, drought, and wildfire.

The NOAA report comes right after the release of a landmark Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which found that humans' burning of fossil fuels has "unequivocally" heated the planet to temperatures not seen on Earth in around 125,000 years.