Scientists say that July was the hottest month on record.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said last month earned the unenviable distinction as the world’s hottest month ever in 142 years of record keeping.

The agency said the combined land and ocean-surface temperature was zero-point-93 of a degree above the 20th-century average of 15-point-eight degrees Celsius, making it not only the hottest July but the hottest month ever.

July's record temperature of 16-point-73 degrees is zero-point-01 degrees higher than the previous record set in July 2016, which was then tied in 2019 and 2020.

NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said that July is typically the world’s warmest month of the year, but this July outdid itself as the hottest July and month ever recorded. 

He said the new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path climate change has set for the globe.

Asia was particularly blistering last month, posting its hottest July on record and besting the previous record set in 2010. 

Warnings on global warming are continuing. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecast the Earth's temperature is likely to rise by one-point-five degrees by 2040 compared to levels before industrialization. The panel has moved up the date by ten years from its previous forecast.