Hottest
ever June marks 14th month of record-breaking temperatures
US
agencies Nasa and Noaa say last month was 0.9C hotter than the 20th
century average and the hottest June since records began in 1880
Michael Slezak
Wednesday 20 July
2016 03.54 BST
As the string of
record-breaking global temperatures continues unabated, June 2016
marks the 14th consecutive month of record-breaking heat.
According to two US
agencies – Nasa and Noaa – June 2016 was 0.9C hotter than the
average for the 20th century, and the hottest June in the record
which goes back to 1880. It broke the previous record, set in 2015,
by 0.02C.
The 14-month streak
of record-breaking temperatures was the longest in the 137-year
record. And it has been 40 years since the world saw a June that was
below the 20th century average.
The string of
record-breaking monthly temperatures began in April 2015, and was
pushed along by a powerful El Niño, where a splurge of warm water
spreads across the Pacific Ocean.
But the effects of
El Niño have receded, and the effects of global warming are clear,
said Nasa’s Gavin Schmidt.
“While the El Niño
event in the tropical Pacific this winter gave a boost to global
temperatures from October onwards, it is the underlying trend which
is producing these record numbers,” he said.
Nasa’s Walt Meir
said the global temperatures have been exacerbated by extreme
temperatures over the Arctic. Warm temperatures there are pushing up
the global average, as well a causing record-low amounts of sea ice.
“It has been a
record year so far for global temperatures, but the record high
temperatures in the Arctic over the past six months have been even
more extreme,” Meier said. “This warmth as well as unusual
weather patterns have led to the record-low sea ice extents so far
this year.”
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