It was incredibly hot last month. So hot that that the lower 48 United States broke all records since record-keeping started in 1895. But globally, Earth's temperature (surface temperature) in July was tied with 2024 as the warmest July since global record-keeping began in 1850.
An example of extreme heat in the US was Arizona - while many days in Phoenix hit over 110 degrees F, on July 24 they recorded 117 degrees Fahrenheit. The second article (scroll down) lists the hottest temperature recorded globally in July: 126.9 °F (52.7 degrees C) Omidieh (Omidiyeh), Iran on July 14. Population estimates for Omidieh in 2026 are about 84,000 people.
Scientists say the increased warmth is due to global warming and climate change tied to fossil fuels (gas, oil, coal). Yet we are doing nothing about it in the US. Instead, it's business as usual - "Drill, baby, drill"!
From AP News: Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says
The contiguous United States sizzled to its hottest month ever last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
July averaged 76.89 degrees Fahrenheit (24.94 degrees Celsius) across the Lower 48 states, eclipsing the Dust Bowl’s July 1936 by an eighth of a degree. Records go back to 1895.
“It’s not good when you’re breaking records from the Dust Bowl, which we are in this case,” said meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections. “And that was a crazy sort of situation where you put tens of millions of people in motion. You had this great migration because of the drought and the heat that hit the center of the U.S. — just a cataclysmic event in U. S. history. If we’re exceeding records from The Dust Bowl, that says that we’re in deep trouble.”
Article excerpts, plus a list of some extreme temperature records. From Yale Climate Connections: July 2026 ties with July 2024 as Earth’s hottest month on record
July 2026 tied with July 2024 as the planet’s hottest July since modern record-keeping began in 1850, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, or NCEI, reported August 11. NASA rated July 2026 as the hottest July on record, the European Copernicus Climate Change Service rated it the second-hottest, and the Japan Meteorological Agency rated it as tied for hottest. Climatologically, July is the hottest month of the year, so July 2026 and 2024 are “more likely than not the hottest months on record for the globe since 1850,” NOAA said. The global average temperature for January-July 2026 was the third-highest on record.
North America, Africa, and Asia experienced their warmest July on record; South America, its sixth-warmest; Europe, its seventh-warmest; and Oceania, its eighth-warmest. As detailed in our post yesterday, July 2026 was the hottest month in U.S. history, eclipsing the record set in 1936 during the Dust Bowl.
- Hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 52.7°C (126.9°F) at Omidieh, Iran, July 14;
- Hottest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 41.6°C (106.9°F) at Pozo Hondo, Argentina, July 17
Seventeen all-time national/territorial heat records beaten or tied as of the end of July
Chad: 48.0°C (118.4°F) at Faya, May 19 (tie)
Bahrain: 47.6°C (117.7°F) at Bahrain Airport, May 29
Jersey (UK territory): 39.3°C (102.6°F) at Maison St. Louis, June 25
Guernsey (UK territory): 36.4°C (97.5°F) at Rocquaine Bay, June 25
Luxembourg: 40.9°C (105.6°F) at Reckange, June 26
Denmark: 37.0°C (98.6°F) at Odum and Odense, June 27
Germany: 41.8°C (107.2°F) at Mockern-Drewitz, June 27
Czech Republic: 41.9°C (107.4°F) at Doksany, June 28
Poland: 40.5°C (104.9°F)at Slubice, June 28
Belarus: 40.4°C (104.7°F)at Pinsk, June 29
Slovakia: 41.3°C (106.3°F)at Kamenice nad Hronom, June 30
Hungary: 42.0°C (107.6°F) at Szecseny, June 30
Uzbekistan: 49.7°C (121.5°F) at Achkuduk, July 18 (tie)
Kyrgyzstan: 44.6°C (112.3°F) at Jangy Jer, July 19
Switzerland: 39.7°C (103.5°F) at Basel, July 30 (tie)
Liechtenstein: 38.2°C (100.8°F) at Balzers, July 30
South Korea: 41.4°C (106.5°F) at Yangsan, July 31