Hottest year on record an ‘unmistakable sign’ of human impact on environment

Hottest year on record an ‘unmistakable sign’ of human impact on environment

By David Abel BOSTON GLOBE STAFF AUGUST 17, 2016

In the 136 years scientists have been tracking global temperatures, there has never been a warmer month than this July, according a new NASA report by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

Two years ago, a report by the federal government called the National Climate Assessment found that the Northeast was already seeing the impact of climate change, from prolonged heat waves to torrential rains and increased flooding. The report attributed the impact to the burning of fossil fuels and other human activity.

The record warm July continued a streak of 10 consecutive months dating back to October 2015 that have set new monthly high-temperature records. Compared to previous years, the warmer global temperatures last month were most pronounced in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly near the Arctic region.

The monthly analysis by the GISS team is assembled from publicly available data acquired by about 6,300 meteorological stations around the world, ship- and buoy-based instruments measuring sea surface temperature, and Antarctic research stations. The modern global temperature record begins around 1880 because previous observations didn’t cover enough of the planet.