Records tumble as world grows warmer

Average global temperatures were at their highest in 136 years last month.

Average global temperatures were at their highest in 136 years last month due to warmer ocean temperatures based on updated methodology, the American premier weather agency ­announced yesterday.

Ocean temperatures were the warmest on record and average land surface temperatures were the sixth warmest, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric ­Administration said.

Forecasters now expect 2015 to be a record year, with Australian temperatures predicted to rise due to El Nino conditions.

“It just reaffirms what we ­already know: that the Earth is warming,” said administration climate scientist Jake Crouch. “The warming is accelerating and we’re really seeing it this year.”

Australian Climate Council spokesman Will ­Stefen said records were tumbling as the ­realities of a warming world set in.

“The presence of a powerful El Nino that could break records increases the likelihood of ­another angry Australian summer,” Professor Stefen said.

Globally, the combined sea and land temperature in July, Earth’s warmest month of the year, was 16.61C, 0.81C above the 20th-century average of 15.8C.

Last month’s record ­exceeded the previous record set in 1998 by 0.08.

Record sea surface temperatures were driven by record warmth across large expanses of the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The July globally average sea surface temperature was 0.75C above the 20th-century ­average, the highest temperature for any month in the 1880-2015 record, surpassing the previous record set in July last year by 0.07C.

There was also record warmth across much of northern South America, parts of southern Europe and central Asia and the far western US.

Against the warming trend, a large swath stretching from eastern Scandinavia into western ­Siberia was cooler than average.

There were also cooler temperatures across parts of eastern and southern Asia and scattered areas in central and northern North America.