June was the world’s hottest on record, far surpassing the 2019 record, according to a study by Copernicus, a European Commission program that studies climate and environmental change.
“June was the hottest month globally, just over 0.5 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, well above the previous record set for June 2019,” according to observatory data.
Record-breaking temperatures in northwestern Europe, while parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Asia and eastern Australia “were significantly warmer than normal,” Copernicus notes.
On the other hand, it was colder than usual in western Australia, the western United States and western Russia. For 15 years, the month of June was consistently above the averages of the 1991-2020 reference period, but “June 2023 is well above the others, it is the type of anomaly we are not used to,” he explained to Agence France Presse. the scientist Julien Nicolas.
The average global temperature was 16.51 degrees Celsius in June, 0.53 degrees above the average for the previous three decades. The previous record, in June 2019, was 0.37 degrees.
“The June 2023 record is due in large part to the extremely high surface temperatures of the oceans”, which represent 70% of the globe’s surface,” explained the scientist.
Temperatures had reached record levels in May in the Pacific Ocean due to the onset of the El Niño weather phenomenon. In June, for its part, the North Atlantic was affected by heat waves at sea “which surprised many people by reaching truly unprecedented levels,” said the expert.
“Extreme marine heat waves” were measured in the Baltic Sea, as well as around Ireland and Great Britain, which already confirmed their record temperatures for the month of June a few days ago.
The trend continues in July: Tuesday was the hottest day ever measured globally, according to preliminary data from the University of Maine in the United States. Scientists have warned for months that 2023 could see record heat as man-made climate change, driven in large part by the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil, warms the atmosphere.
These observations are probably a preview of what will come with the so-called El Niño phenomenon -generally associated with an increase in temperatures on a global scale-, complemented by the effects of climate warming caused by human activity.
Source: TSF
