World Has Hottest June On Record As Ocean Temperatures Soar - gCaptain
World Has Hottest June On Record As Ocean Temperatures Soar
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A map of the world plotted with some of the most significant climate events that occurred during June 2023. (Image credit: NOAA/NCEI)
By Brian K. Sullivan
(Bloomberg) –The world just had its hottest June ever for land and sea, with ocean temperatures setting new highs for the third month in a row.
Combined ground and ocean temperatures across the Earth were 1.89F degrees (1.05C) above the 20th-century average of 59.9F, making this the warmest June in data going back 174 years, the US National Centers for Environmental Information said in a statement. It’s “virtually certain” that this year will rank among the 10 warmest on record, the agency said.
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Massive heat waves have endangered lives and taxed energy grids the world over since the start of the year. The blistering weather is also triggering droughts that have contributed to wildfires, such as those that burned more than 20 million acres (8.1 million hectares) across Canada, sending smoke into the US and Europe.
Elevated ocean temperatures, meanwhile, are created conditions ripe for hurricanes. The world’s oceans produced an above-average nine named storms last month, four of which reached hurricane strength. The global accumulated cyclone energy – a measure of storms’ power – was almost twice the normal value for June.
In addition to global temperatures, Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest extent on record despite winter being underway there, the agency said.
© 2023 Bloomberg L.P.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.