July was the hottest month ever recorded in the United States, according to a monthly climate review from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Last month’s temperatures, averaging 77.6 degrees Fahrenheit, beat out the 1930s Dust Bowl era record by 3.3 degrees. Higher-than-average temperatures have contributed to wildfires and widespread drought. This clearly shows a longer-term warming trend in the U.S., not just one really hot month, Jake Crouch, a climatologist at the agencys National Climatic Data Center, told the . Last month, NOAA, which has been keeping track of national temperature records since 1895, announced that the past year was the hottest on record.
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