Last month was the hottest on Earth since records began more than 100 years ago, and chances are this will be the hottest year in the past six centuries. The Vice-President of the United States, Mr Al Gore, yesterday announced that July temperatures worldwide averaged 16.5 Celsius, about 0.7 degrees higher than normal and almost 0.3 degrees higher than the previous monthly record set last July. And July was the seventh month in a row with world average temperatures that made the record books.