Last month was the hottest July since 1880, according to Greek official records, with NASA data indicating that, on a global level, July was one of the hottest months on record.
With two back-to-back heat waves last month, temperatures reached nearly 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 Fahrenheit) on Crete.
“In early July we recorded a very significant heat wave with very high temperatures,” meteorologist Dimitris Ziakopoulos told Kathimerini.
“This summer was significantly hotter than previous ones,” Ziakopoulos added, noting that sweltering conditions continued through July and into August.
According to a new analysis from NASA, July 2017 has tied with August and July 2016 as the hottest month on record. This continued temperature increase is another example of how climate change is affecting our world.
May 2017 is not far behind, resting not-so-comfortably in second place.
According to NASA, last month was 0.83 degrees Celsius (1.49 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the average July temperature for the 1951 to 1980 period. July 2016 had a similar temperature difference of 0.82 degrees Celsius above average, while all previous months of July were recorded to be nearly a tenth of a degree cooler.
I suppose, scientists speak of all these horrible heat waves we experienced this summer in Greece, with the most horrible being this at the end of June beginning of July.
I remember well I had my first swim of the year in May, when I usually open my private swimming season in June.
PS I don’t want to believe we could have another heat wave towards end of August… It doesn’t happen often but it occurs occasionally.
