Eight months into the year, six nations have seen record high temperatures, including Kuwait, Iraq, Armenia, Iran, and Republic of the Congo, reports Jeff Master’s Wunderblog. To date no record lows have been recorded in any country in the world so far. This is similar, though not quite as extreme, to last year when twenty countries broke all time highs with none hitting an all time low.
On August 3rd, Kuwait made a number of new records when it hit 127 Fahrenheit (53.3 Celsius) at Mitrabah: a record for Kuwait, for an Arabic nation, and a world record for the month of August.
Asia has suffered under incredible heat over the summer with Kuwait’s record number, Iraq’s, and Iran’s all falling in the top ten highs ever recorded on the continent.
High temperatures, along with drought and fires, have also plagued much of the US this summer with Texas experiencing its worst drought since the Dust Bowl. In July Oklahoma recorded the highest average temperature over a month (89.1 Fahrenheit) of any of the all 50 states.
Globally, last year was tied for the warmest on record since tracking begin in 1880. According to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) the warmest years to date are: 2005 and 2010 (tied), followed by 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009. Needless to say 2000-2009 was the warmest decade yet.
Scientists say the world is warming due to greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and deforestation among other human impacts.
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