(Bloomberg) -- As more than 100,000 Americans fleedestructive wildfires in California andfloods in Louisiana, Earth sends yet anotherreminder that the worst is yet to come: a new record forplanet-wide heat.

Last month wasn’t just the hottest July on record for thesurface of earth. It continued the longest-ever streak ofrecord-breaking months — 15, according to data released onWednesday by the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA).

July followed the hottest June, May, April, March,February, January, December, November, October, and September,along with last August, July, June, and May.

Hottest month since instrumental records began

The extremes of recent months are such that we're only midway into2016, and there’s already a greater than 99 percent likelihood thatthis year will go down as the hottest on record, according to GavinSchmidt, who directs NASA’s GoddardInstitute for Space Studies.

NASA and NOAA maintain independent records of the Earth’stemperatures, and both agree that last month was a scorcher. "July2016 was absolutely the hottest month since the instrumentalrecords began," Schmidt wrote on Twitter.

In Baton Rouge, La., days of heavy rainfall caused water tooverrun levees along several tributaries this week. About 40,000homes in southeastern Louisiana have been affected by the floods,and at least 11 people have died.

Out-of-control wildifres

In California, more than 80,000 people fled out-of-controlwildfires after the state's fifth year of drought turned forestsinto tinderboxes. Wildfire season typically doesn't begin untilfall.

The July heat was experienced differently across the globebut was felt to some degree almost everywhere.

3rd consecutive year to set a new global heat record?

Some of this is still the result of El Niño, which releases heatfrom the Pacific that typically lingers for months after theunderlying conditions subside. Last year's powerful ElNiño may soon shift to a cooling La Niña, according toNOAA’s ClimatePrediction Center.

The agency gives a 55 percent to 60 percent chance of aLa Niña pattern developing in the fall or winter. That,however, doesn’t change earth’s long-term trajectory.

This year is on track to be the third consecutive year toset a new global heat record. So far, 15 of the hottest 16 yearsever measured have come in the 21st century. Results fromthe world’s chief monitoring agencies vary slightly,but all agree that the extremes of 2016 are unrivaled — fornow.

Related: Earth's heat extends an unprecedented streak ofrecords

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