WASHINGTON, July 19 (UPI) — Last month was the warmest June in history, keeping alive the streak of warmest months in modern history. That’s the latest news from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
For 14 straight months, the average monthly global temperature record has been broken. It’s the longest streak since NOAA began tracking global temperatures 137 years ago.
The warmest land temperatures were recorded in north-central and far eastern Russia as well as northern Australia. Well-above-average temperatures were also recorded across the southwestern United States, southern Mexico, northeastern Brazil, northeastern and southwestern Africa, the Middle East and Indonesia.
As expected, ocean temperatures were also warmer than they were a year ago. June’s above-average ocean temperatures marked the 40th June in a row that the monthly average has exceeded the 20th century average.
This year’s first six months marked Earth’s hottest half-year on record. And the latest numbers all but guarantee 2016 will be the hottest year on record, surpassing the record set last year.
Though warming records continue to be set globally, the Arctic continues to experience the most dramatic climatic change.
“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,” Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at NASA Goddard, said in a news release. “This warmth as well as unusual weather patterns have led to the record low sea ice extents so far this year.”
