Global temperatures are shattering records as El Niño and climate change compound.
On July 3, the planet sweltered as the average global temperature reached 17.01° Celsius (62.62° Fahrenheit), the highest ever recorded, according to data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction. That surpassed the previous record of 16.92° C (62.46° F) from August 2016.
By the end of the week, that new record was tied or broken three more times, peaking on July 6 at 17.23° C (63.01° F). And Earth just experienced its hottest June ever recorded.
This time of year is usually when the average global temperature peaks. But the extraordinary nature of this year’s June and July probably stems from what’s going on in the big blue. Oceans around the world have grown alarmingly warm, thanks in no small part to human-caused climate change, researchers say. And El Niño, the recurring climate pattern known to temporarily heat the planet, has finally returned.
“We’ve really never had this set of circumstances before,” says atmospheric scientist Jennifer Francis of the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Mass. “We’re entering uncharted territory.”
Hot oceans are a problem
Much of the extreme heat we’re seeing goes back to the state of our oceans, says climate scientist Thomas Di Liberto of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C. “The global ocean has just been so, so warm.”
Our planet’s seas have been warming for decades. The most recent decade has been the sea surface’s hottest since at least the 1800s. In April, the average surface temperature of the world’s oceans reached 21.1° C, the highest ever recorded.
It’s been particularly warm in the North Atlantic, where records are being broken by large margins. In April, sea surface temperatures there surpassed 4 degrees C above what’s normal for that time of year (SN: 6/15/23). And in the Gulf of…
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