--- description: The average temperature around the globe was 1.58°F (88°C) higher than the 20th century average during the first six months of 2015 title: Climate Change Temperature: First Six Month of 2015 Hottest on Record image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [climate change](/tag/climate-change/) ## climate change Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The First Half of 2015 Was the Hottest Ever  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:08 AM CUTPublished: Jul 21, 2015 9:39 PM CUT  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:08 AM CUTPublished: Jul 21, 2015 9:39 PM CUT **Correction appended, July 22, 2015** The average temperature around the globe was 1.58_°_F (0.88°C) higher than the 20th century average during the first six months of 2015, making it the hottest start to the year in the era of modern record keeping. The [announcement](https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201506#introduction "undefined"), from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is the latest news showing record temperatures across the planet in recent years. The 2015 record easily surpassed a record for high temperatures in the first six months of the year set last year. The record highs occurred on both land and in oceans.  Courtesy of NOAA In the month of June, the entire world was warmer than average with the exception of the area in the Atlantic Ocean between Greenland and the United Kingdom. Scientists noted record warmth in Pacific areas along the ocean, in addition to other areas. NOAA also notes that climate phenomenon [El Niño](http://time.com/3952081/el-nino-california-drought-noaa/ "undefined"), which began earlier this year, is expected to last into spring 2016\. El Niño typically brings an onslaught of rain and raises global temperatures. **Read More**: [2014 Was the Hottest Year on Record](http://time.com/3671519/2014-record-high/ "undefined") **Correction:** The original version of this story misstated the average temperature increase around the world in 2015 in Celsius. It was 0.88 degrees Celsius ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3966587/2015-climate-change-heat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3966587/2015-climate-change-heat/"},"headline":"The First Half of 2015 Was the Hottest Ever","datePublished":"2015-07-21T21:39:50.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T04:08:41.000Z","description":"It's been a hot one","url":"https://time.com/3966587/2015-climate-change-heat/","keywords":["climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3966587/2015-climate-change-heat/","name":"The First Half of 2015 Was the Hottest Ever"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2014 Was the Hottest Year on Record","description":"2014 was the hottest year since temperature record keeping began in 1880, scientists from NASA and the NOAA announced. Here's why","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/cSFLnBzD/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-16T21:11:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cSFLnBzD.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3966587/2015-climate-change-heat/","duration":"PT1M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3966587/2015-climate-change-heat/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```