June was the hottest month globally in 174 years since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration started keeping records, the American agency said in a report on Thursday.
The global surface temperature in June was 1.05 degrees Celsius above the long-term average of 15.5 degrees Celsius, the agency said in its monthly climate summary.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration works under the the US Department of Commerce and carries out research in the fields of climate and ecology.
The agency said that the global surface temperature in the January-June period was the third warmest ever recorded. It also predicted that this year will rank among the 10 warmest years on record and that there was a 97% chance that it will rank among the top five.
The agency said it was also the third consecutive month when the global ocean surface temperature hit a record high due to the El Nino conditions.
The El Nino phenomenon involves the warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that has been linked to crop damage, fires and flash floods.
“Globally, June 2023 set a record for the highest monthly sea surface temperature anomaly of any month in NOAA’s 174-year record,” it said. “June heat was not limited to the ocean surface; the Southern Hemisphere had its warmest June on record and the Northern Hemisphere tied 2019 for its warmest June.”
The agency also said that June recorded the lowest global sea ice extent ever during a month.
“This primarily resulted from record-low sea ice extent in the Antarctic, which saw its second consecutive month with the lowest sea ice extent on record,” it added. “Globally, sea ice extent in June 2023 was 330,000 square miles less than the previous record low from June 2019.”
Extreme heat events are becoming increasingly common across the globe. The year 2021 was the world’s seventh hottest on record while 2022 was the fifth hottest.
July 3, 2023, was the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to the the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction. However, it is yet to be officially declared as the hottest day by measurement entities such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
In India too, heatwaves have become more prevalent in the recent years. In April, the weather department had predicted that most parts of the country will experience above normal heatwaves during the three summer months of April to June. In June, non-profit organisation Climate Central said that a heatwave that swept across Uttar Pradesh that month was made at least two times more likely because of climate change.
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