Canadians who've spent the summer wondering when all the hot weather will arrive aren't alone in their grumbling. Scientists at the University of Alabama say this summer has been the coldest the world has seen since 1992.

The fall in average worldwide temperature has apparently been going on since March. But researchers say they're not sure why the thermostat has dropped this year.

In the Northern Hemisphere, July's temperatures were below the 20-year average by .14 degrees Celsius and in the Southern Hemisphere by .29 degrees, said John Christy, a professor of atmospheric science at the Alabama university. Both the tropics and Antarctica showed marked coolness.

Rick Walls, a meteorologist at Environment Canada in Winnipeg, says in the eastern Prairies, it could be the coldest summer on record since data started being collected in the 19th century. He says between May and mid-August, temperatures in the region were on average three degrees below normal, beating records that go back to 1872.

In weather terms, that 's a massive drop.

But then, coastal British Columbia has been experiencing one of its hottest summers on record, with Victoria and Vancouver enjoying their second-warmest July on record.

In Victoria, July was the second warmest in records that go back to 1898, and a similar record-setting month was experienced in Vancouver, where temperatures were on average 2.2 degrees above the monthly average.

Scientists say the summer isn't completely lost. Early data this month suggests the cooling trend has been reversing.