If you felt like this summer was record-breakingly hot, you're almost right. In the US, the summer of 2021 has tied with the summer of 1936 for hottest on record. As USA Today points out, the country was in the middle of the Dust Bowl that summer. Climate scientists, who have kept records dating back to 1895, define the summer as June, July, and August, the hottest months of the year. In 2021, the average temperature in the contiguous US was 74 degrees Fahrenheit, 2.6 degrees above average. A report this summer from Climate Central notes climate change is to blame: "We are experiencing higher average temperatures and more extreme and record-breaking heat events."
As CBS News explains, this summer was technically the hottest on record, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially considers it a tie since the difference was less than a hundredth of a degree. More than 18% of the contiguous US experienced record-breaking heat over the summer, including California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah having their hottest summers ever, according to NOAA. Sixteen other states had one of their top five hottest-ever summers, and no state experienced below-average temperatures. Europe's climate scientists also recently announced Europe experienced its hottest summer on record; last year was Europe's hottest overall, CNN reports. (More climate change stories.)
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