June was the hottest month ever recorded – 7/6/2023 – Environment

The planet had the hottest June on record. According to the European observatory Copernicus, both the air and the oceans experienced record heat.

The researchers point out that, although discussions this year have focused on the potential of El Niño (which warms the waters of the Pacific, in the region of the Equator) to cause unprecedented warming, in June it was the temperatures in the north of the Atlantic Ocean that raised the thermometers.

Exceptionally warm temperature anomalies have been recorded at the surface of the North Atlantic, caused by short-term conditions in the atmosphere and long-term changes in the ocean. Ireland, the UK and the Baltic Sea all experienced extreme heatwaves.

In the Pacific, El Niño continued to gain momentum, warming tropical waters. In addition, other regions such as the Sea of ​​Japan and the western Indian Ocean also experienced more heat than usual.

The research center had already pointed out that May had recorded the highest ocean temperatures in history for the month. The trend continued in June, with indices still above the historical average.

“These exceptional conditions in the North Atlantic highlight the complexity of the Earth system,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S, Copernicus’ Climate Change Service. “The interplay between local and global variability alongside climate trends is essential to better manage risks and design efficient adaptation policies.”

The observatory’s report comes in the same week that the daily global temperature record was broken twice.

Warmer air and more polar melting

C3S publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting observed changes in global surface air temperature, sea ice cover and hydrological variables. The findings are based on computer-generated analysis using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.

June also had the highest global air temperature for the month, standing 0.53°C above the 1991-2020 average and beating the previous record of 2019 by a substantial margin.

In this regard, temperature records were recorded in northwest Europe. Parts of Canada (which suffers from the worst wildfires in history), the United States, Mexico, Asia and eastern Australia were significantly warmer than normal.

At the same time, western Australia, the United States and Russia were colder than usual.

According to the AFP news agency, the average planetary temperature in June was 16.51ºC. For 15 years, the month has frequently exceeded the averages for the period from 1991 to 2020, but the scientist at the European observatory Julien Nicolas says that June 2023 is way above the rest. “It’s a type of anomaly that we are not used to,” he explained to the agency.

In Antarctica, even in the middle of winter in the southern hemisphere, sea ice reached its lowest extent for June since the beginning of satellite observations, being 17% below average.

Arctic sea ice extent was slightly below average, but well above June figures for the past eight years, when melting was steep.

(With AFP)