--- title: July Was the Hottest Month Ever description: July was the hottest month ever recorded for the globe, and 2015 is on track to be the hottest year. canonical: https://time.com/4004804/july-hottest-month-ever/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-20T15:29:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:05.182Z article:section: Science og:title: July Was the Hottest Month Ever og:description: And 2015 is on track to be the hottest year og:url: https://time.com/4004804/july-hottest-month-ever/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt463a7102dc68e7f5/6988603d8e0601959d461fb5/july-hot-month.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3018 og:image:height: 1698 og:image:alt: Beach People - Hot Summer og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: July Was the Hottest Month Ever twitter:description: And 2015 is on track to be the hottest year twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt463a7102dc68e7f5/6988603d8e0601959d461fb5/july-hot-month.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # July Was the Hottest Month Ever ## Video: Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8) (0:48)  _Published 2013-05-09. Climate Change_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 20, 2015 3:29 PM UTC  A man laying out on the sand basking in the afternoon sun at the beach - Jones Beach State Park, Wantagh, Long Island, NY State, USA, July 19, 2015 A man laying out on the sand basking in the afternoon sun at the beach - Jones Beach State Park, Wantagh, Long Island, NY State, USA, July 19, 2015Keith Getter—Moment Editorial/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 20, 2015 3:29 PM UTC July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. [According to the National Centers for Environmental Information](http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201507), the average temperature in July across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.46°F (0.81°C) above the 20th century average. As temperatures rose, sea ice continued to shrink—the average extent of Arctic sea ice was 350,000 sq. mi. (9.5%) below the average from 1981 to 2010. This July data comes as 2015 as a whole is on track to set a new heat record as well. The average global land and ocean surface temperature from January through July of 2015 is the highest for that period of time sine 1880\. This year could beat 2014, which is the [hottest year](http://time.com/3671519/2014-record-high/) on record. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4004804/july-hottest-month-ever/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4004804/july-hottest-month-ever/"},"headline":"July Was the Hottest Month Ever","datePublished":"2015-08-20T15:29:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:05.182Z","description":"And 2015 is on track to be the hottest year","url":"https://time.com/4004804/july-hottest-month-ever/","keywords":["climate change","climate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt463a7102dc68e7f5/6988603d8e0601959d461fb5/july-hot-month.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt463a7102dc68e7f5/6988603d8e0601959d461fb5/july-hot-month.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Beach People - Hot Summer","caption":"Beach People - Hot Summer","creditText":"Keith Getter—Moment Editorial/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"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/4004804/july-hottest-month-ever/","name":"July Was the Hottest Month Ever"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change","description":"Climate Change","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ywHiuC83/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-05-09T17:46:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4004804/july-hottest-month-ever/","duration":"PT48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4004804/july-hottest-month-ever/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```