It’s Official, Say NOAA and NASA: This June Was the Hottest Ever Recorded on Earth - Common Dreams

As people in much of North America, Europe, and Africa suffer sweltering heatwaves, a pair of U.S. government agencies that track and record weather joined international counterparts Thursday in confirming that last month was the hottest June ever recorded, based on global average temperature.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that the average surface temperature—that includes water and land—in June was 1.89°F above average, a “174-year global climate record.”

“Additionally,” the agency said, “Earth’s ocean surface temperature anomaly—which indicates how much warmer or cooler temperatures are from the long-term average—were the highest ever recorded, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.”

“For the third consecutive month, the global ocean surface temperature hit a record high as weak El Niño conditions that emerged in May continued to strengthen in June,” NOAA added. “Globally, June 2023 set a record for the highest monthly sea surface temperature anomaly of any month in NOAA’s climate record.”

Conversely, NOAA said Thursday that global sea ice coverage receded last month to the lowest level in any June ever observed.

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Meanwhile, surface temperature analysis by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Institute for Space Studies said Thursday that last month was the hottest June in its record book, which dates back to 1880.

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The U.S. announcements come after the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service also called last month the hottest June ever recorded.

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