Copernicus, the European Union's climate monitoring agency, said on June 15 that the average global temperature in early June this year was the highest it had ever recorded, France24 reported.
Specifically, preliminary global average temperatures measured in early June were nearly 1 degree Celsius higher than those recorded since 1979. According to the data, daily average global temperatures were equal to or above the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold between June 7 and 11, peaking at 1.69 degrees Celsius on June 9.
Fire in a wheat field in Spain during the country's second heatwave of 2022
Copernicus said this was not the first time global temperatures had reached such a high level. The limit had been exceeded several times in the winter and spring of recent years.
In addition, Copernicus also announced that global ocean temperatures were warmer last month, and higher than any May on record.
The world is 'steaming' because of El Nino
Long-term warming conditions from fossil fuel burning may be supplemented by a heat pulse from El Nino, a natural phenomenon that occurs about every two to seven years in which parts of the Pacific Ocean warm, causing global temperatures to spike.
The last time this type of weather occurred was in 2018-2019. Most of the hottest years on record have occurred during El Nino periods. Scientists fear that this summer and next could see record-breaking temperatures on land and at sea.
Last week, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said El Nino conditions were emerging and would “gradually strengthen” early next year. Last month, the world experienced its third-warmest May in 174 years, according to the agency’s June 14 update. Both North and South America had their hottest Mays on record.
In addition, high temperatures in the ocean also affect global temperatures and destroy fish populations, bleach coral reefs and cause coastal sea levels to rise.
Ellen Bartow-Gillies, a climate scientist at NOAA, told The Guardian that the agency has not yet processed June temperature data but it looks like temperatures will continue to rise this month.
Regardless of whether 2023 becomes the hottest year on record, scientists warn that the escalating impacts of the climate crisis are already being felt, and will not be alleviated unless greenhouse gas emissions are drastically cut.
"Without stronger emissions cuts, the changes we're seeing are just the beginning of the adverse impacts we could see," warned Natalie Mahowald, an atmospheric scientist at Cornell University.
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