BY NICK POPE:

Numerous corporate media outlets drove the narrative that July 3-5 was the hottest 72-hour stretch ever on record, citing a data tool from the University of Maine which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has warned is not as dependable as traditional observational data.

The New York Times, Fortune, Axios and CBS News each cited the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer in various Thursday reports asserting that this week’s global temperatures broke the previous record for hottest three-day stretch. NOAA “cannot confirm” the Reanalyzer’s findings, adding that the Reanalyzer’s “data (is) not suitable to be used as a proxy for actual surface temperatures and climate records,” NOAA Director of Strategic Communications Lori Arguelles wrote in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Axios’ Thursday headline asserted that “Earth sees three hottest days on record,” while The Times wrote in its Thursday story that “the past three days were quite likely the hottest in Earth’s modern history.” CBS News ran a chyron on a Thursday television segment which read, “Earth sees third straight hottest day on record,” while the first half of Fortune’s Thursday headline stated that “Earth hits record heat third day in a row.”

“Although NOAA cannot validate the methodology or conclusion of the University of Maine analysis, we recognize that we are in a warm period due to climate change, and combined with El Niño and hot summer conditions, we’re seeing record warm surface temperatures being recorded at many locations across the globe,” Arguelles added in her statement to the DCNF.

The Reanalyzer uses observational data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), according to the Reanalyzer’s website. The Reanalyzer shows that this week was the hottest week it has ever recorded.

“The situation we are witnessing now is the demonstration that climate change is out of control,” United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said of the heat, according to The Guardian. “If we persist in delaying key measures that are needed, I think we are moving into a catastrophic situation, as the last two records in temperature demonstrates.”

The New York Times, Fortune, Axios and CBS News did not respond immediately to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

This article originally appeared in The Daily Caller