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Global sea surface temperature departure from average hit a record high
Antarctic sea ice from June 5, 2023. Earth saw a record-hot June, while last month had the lowest global sea ice coverage for any June on record. (Image credit: Anna McBee/National Science Foundation/Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
The world just sweltered through its hottest June in the 174-year global climate record.
Additionally, Earth’s ocean surface temperature anomaly — which indicates how much warmer or cooler temperatures are from the long-term average — were the highest ever recorded, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
Here’s a closer look into NOAA’s latest monthly global climate report:
Climate by the numbers
June 2023
The average global surface (land and ocean) temperature in June was 1.89 degrees F (1.05 degrees C) above average, ranking June 2023 as Earth’s warmest June on record. June 2023 was 0.23 of a degree F (0.13 of a degree C) warmer than the previous record set in June 2020.
June 2023 also marked the 47th-consecutive June and the 532nd-consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average.
For the third consecutive month, the global ocean surface temperature hit a record high as weak El Nino conditions that emerged in May continued to strengthen in June. Globally, June 2023 set a record for the highest monthly sea surface temperature anomaly of any month in NOAA’s climate record.
The year to date (YTD, January through June)
The first half of 2023 ranked as the third warmest such YTD on record, with a global temperature of 1.82 degrees F (1.01 degrees C) above the 20th-century average of 56.3 degrees F (13.5 degrees C).
According to NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Outlook, there is a greater than 99% chance that 2023 will rank among the 10-warmest years on record and a 97% chance it will rank among the top five.
Other notable climate events in the report
Sea ice coverage hit a record low: Globally, June 2023 saw the lowest sea ice coverage (extent) for any June on record. This primarily was a result of the record-low sea ice in the Antarctic that occurred for the second consecutive month. Earth’s global sea ice extent in June 2023 was 330,000 square miles less than the previous record low from June 2019.
The tropics were active last month: Nine named storms occurred across the globe in June. Four of the storms reached tropical cyclone strength (winds of 74 mph or higher) with one of those reaching major tropical cyclone strength (winds of 111 mph or higher). These counts are all above 1991–2020 averages for June. The Atlantic basin saw three tropical storms this June, which ties eight other years for the most storms in June.
More > Access NOAA’s June global climate report and download the images.
