Second hottest July breaks 13-month record streak, EU scientists say

Last month was the second hottest July for the planet on record, breaking a 13-month period when each month was warmest, which had been in part fuelled by the warming El Nino weather pattern, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday.

The month was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial reference of 1850-1990, Copernicus said in a monthly report, while the last 12 months were 1.64 C above the pre-industrial average due to climate change.

July also recorded the two hottest days on record.

Copernicus attributes the high temperatures largely to greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-based industries and noted that oceans not normally impacted by El Nino saw an unusual rise in temperatures.

"This El Nino has ended but this magnitude of global temperature rises, the big picture is quite similar...