July was the hottest month in the lower 48 states since records started being kept in 1895, breaking the previous record set during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Scientists said this wouldn't have happened without human-caused climate change.

Caption: In this Sept. 30, 2011 file photo, Sailboats and a floating dock lie on the dry, cracked dirt in a harbor at Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City as drought continues to be a problem across the state.(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

The record came on the heels of a study by NASA's James Hansen, linking increased extreme weather events with climate change. He found that the odds of hitting record temperatures from the 1950s to 1980s was about 1 in 300 but has now dropped to 1 in 10 thanks to climate change.

For those who want to know more, here are two full-length stories, one on the record July temperatures and the other on Hansen's study.