June 2024 was second-hottest in US, contrary to claim | Fact check

The claim: Map shows summer 2024 temperatures are 'typical'

A July 8 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a map that lists purported July high-temperature records for each state. Most of the state records are listed as being decades old.

"It's a typical summer," reads the caption. "It ISN'T 'extreme.' Don't believe the media's LIES."

The post was shared 1,000 times in two and a half weeks.

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Our rating: False

Temperatures for June and the first two weeks of July were higher than average, according to government data. June 2024 was the second-warmest June on record.

Summer 2024 warmer than average

The claim was posted on July 8. Summer temperatures before that date were higher than average.

Average June temperatures in the U.S. were 2.34 degrees higher than the 1991-2020 average, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. The first week of July was 0.82 degrees warmer than the 1991-2000 average, according to the agency. The second week was 1.74 degrees warmer.

June 2024 was the second-warmest June on record with NOAA. June 2021 was the warmest on record.

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Average summer temperatures (including June, July and August) have risen about 1.6 degrees since 1896, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Temperatures have risen in the U.S. and globally because human activity has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Extreme heat records are due to weather events; global warming is based on decades of change

Chris Martz, who is credited on the Facebook post as the map creator, did not respond when USA TODAY asked about the source of the data. Much of the data in the map matches NOAA data for record-high temperatures set in July, but some states are slightly off.

USA TODAY could not find official high-temperature data for July in 17 states, but more than half of state high-temperature records were set in the 1930s or earlier when all months are considered. During the 1930s, poor farming techniques and a series of droughts and heat waves contributed to extreme temperatures across the central U.S.

Fact check: Supposed list of most extreme temperatures in Canada is wrong

However, record-high temperatures set during extreme weather events cannot by themselves be used to determine whether climate is changing over time, Sean Birkel, the Maine state climatologist, previously told USA TODAY.

"Variability within the climate system can produce remarkable extremes associated with the happenstance of weather," he said. "A single record high or low temperature in one spot on the planet does not provide the context needed for understanding climate. Climate is measured from weather conditions – including temperature, precipitation, wind, etc. – that are averaged over many years or decades."

When contacted by USA TODAY, the Facebook user who shared the post did not provide evidence supporting the post's claim.

Our fact-check sources:

• Sandra Rayne, July 24-25, Email exchange with USA TODAY

• USA TODAY, July 11, Many US heat records from 1930s, but average temps still rising | Fact check

• USA TODAY, Sept. 21, 2023, Global warming happening despite 1913 Death Valley temperature record

• NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed July 25, Causes

• NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed July 25, Carbon dioxide

• NOAA, accessed July 25, National Time Series

• NOAA, accessed July 25, Global Time Series

• NOAA, accessed July 25, National Time Series (June)

• NOAA, accessed July 25, What is the difference between weather and climate?

• NOAA, accessed July 25, Records

• NOAA, accessed July 25, Month to date temperature records

• National Drought Mitigation Center, accessed July 25, The Dust Bowl

• National Weather Service, accessed July 25, Heatwave of July 1936

• Library of Congress, accessed July 25, The Dust Bowl

• EPA, June 2024, Climate Change Indicators: Seasonal Temperature

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim summer 2024 temperatures are 'typical' | Fact check