The Wall Street Journal - 16.08.2019

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Friday, August 16, 2019 |A

wide for the month of July was

62.13 degrees Fahrenheit (16.

degrees Celsius).

Deke Arndt, chief of the

monitoring section at NOAA’s

National Centers for Environ-

mental Information, which pre-

pared the analysis, attributed

the unusually hot July mostly

to climate change.

The scientists based their

analysis on readings from

thousands of monitoring sta-

tions and ocean buoys world-

wide. They said that such an

unusually hot July, and the

previous string of warm

months, suggests this year

would be among the five hot-

test on record.

The global temperature this

past July surpassed a previous

record set in 2016, the scien-

tists said Thursday in a regular

news conference on monthly

temperature trends. Nine of

the 10 warmest Julys in the

modern record, which dates to

1880, have occurred since

2005, they said.

Last month’s average tem-

perature was 1.71 degrees Fahr-

enheit above the 20th-century

average, which is the bench-

mark typically used by scien-

tists to gauge significant cli-

mate variations.

“It is virtually certain that

we will have a top five warm-

est year on record, most likely

to fall somewhere between sec-

ond and fourth warmest, by

the time the analysis is done at

the end of the year,” said Mr.

Arndt.

The 10 hottest years overall

since 1880 have all occurred

since 1998, according to cli-

mate scientists at NOAA and

the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration who

monitor global temperatures.

So far, this year is tied with

2017 as the second-hottest year

to date, according to NOAA.

Mr. Arndt said the lingering

effects from a waning El Niño

current in the Pacific Ocean

also contributed by raising

ocean temperatures. El Niño is

a temporary but recurring

weather phenomenon that in-

creases Pacific Ocean tempera-

tures.

“El Niño basically acts like a

heating pad,” Mr. Arndt said.

“That heating pad is cooling

down, but the buildup of its ef-

fects in recent months helped

keep the ocean temperatures

up.”

The average land tempera-

ture in July was the second-

warmest on record, the NOAA

scientists said. The average

land temperature world-wide

was 2.21°F above the 20th-cen-

tury average of 57.8°F.

This past July was the hot-

test month world-wide in more

than a century of global re-

cord-keeping, with severe heat

waves in Europe, Africa and

parts of the U.S. boosting the

overall global average tempera-

ture, federal climate scientists

said Thursday.

Researchers at the U.S. Na-

tional Oceanic and Atmo-

spheric Administration, which

tracks global temperatures for

federal policy makers, calcu-

lated that the average land and

sea surface temperature world-

BYROBERTLEEHOTZ

July Was Hottest Month

Since Records Began

PHILADELPHIA

Prosecutors Spar

Over Shooting

The shooting of six police of-

ficers in Philadelphia is inflaming

longstanding tensions between

the top two prosecutors in the

city.

William McSwain, U.S. attor-

ney for the Eastern District of

Pennsylvania, on Thursday re-

newed his attacks against Dis-

trict Attorney Larry Krasner, a

Democrat, saying he has fos-

tered a “culture of disrespect”

toward law enforcement. Mr.

McSwain said the disrespect

was on display during Wednes-

day’s shooting, which was alleg-

edly carried out by a man with a

long criminal record.

Mr. McSwain, appointed the

region’s chief federal prosecutor

by President Trump in 2017, said

his concerns extend beyond

Maurice Hill, the man who alleg-

edly wounded the six officers af-

ter police tried to serve an ar-

rest warrant Wednesday in

North Philadelphia.

Mr. Krasner, a former civil-

rights attorney elected in 2017,

said he was surprised Mr. Mc-

Swain “would seek to detract

from the great collaborative work

of law enforcement” in Wednes-

day’s incident, which ended after

a nearly eight-hour standoff with

no deaths or serious injuries.

All six officers were released

from the hospital.

Mr. Krasner suggested Mr.

McSwain was acting “for his

own political agenda and per-

sonal gain.”

—Scott Calvert

FEDERAL RESERVE

Economy Still Sound,

Official Says

Federal Reserve Bank of St.

Louis President James Bullard

said Thursday the trade war be-

tween the U.S. and China is fuel-

ing uncertainty about the eco-

nomic outlook but stressed that

the domestic economy appears

to be on sound footing.

In an interview on Fox Busi-

ness Network, he also played

down the rout Wednesday in

U.S. equity markets, noting that

stock prices might be more af-

fected by trade-related uncer-

tainty than American consum-

ers.

Asked whether the Fed

should implement a bigger cut

of 0.5 percentage point at the

next meeting, Mr. Bullard de-

murred, saying he didn’t want to

prejudge its outcome. He also

said he doesn’t think the Fed

needs to call an extraordinary

meeting to potentially lower in-

terest rates sooner than

planned.

—Paul Kiernan

GEORGIA

Overhaul Ordered

For Voting Machines

A federal judge ordered Geor-

gia to have new voting ma-

chines in place throughout the

state by the 2020 primary elec-

tion in March or have plans to

provide voters with paper bal-

lots.

The order Thursday stemmed

from a civil case brought by vot-

ing-integrity groups and some

Georgia voters over the security

of the state’s outdated ma-

chines, which provide no paper

record of votes.

State officials, who recently

contracted for new machines,

which will provide paper records

of each vote, said they can meet

the deadline.

“This is a big win for all Geor-

gia voters and those working

across the country to secure

elections and protect the right to

vote,” said attorney David D.

Cross, who is representing the

lead plaintiffs.

Mr. Cross said state officials

repeatedly delayed taking action

to replace outdated voting ma-

chines and the judge’s order re-

quires them to meet specific

deadlines.

“This sets invaluable prece-

dent for voting-integrity activists

in other states,” he said.

—Cameron McWhirter

Nine of the 10 hottest Julys on record have occurred since 2005.

MICHAEL NAGLE/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS

U.S. NEWS U.S. WATCH

July marked the planet's hottest month since

records began in 1880.

GlobalJulytemperatures,

differencefrom20th

centuryaverage

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

1.

–1.

–0.

0

0.

1.

degrees Fahrenheit

1900 2000

July 2019

+1.

The day after a shootout, an officer guards the scene where a gunman held off police for hours.

MATT ROURKE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

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