According to a NOAA report published on July 18, scorching temperatures made June 2019 the hottest June for the globe in the agency’s 140-year global temperature dataset. The year-to-date temperature for 2019 was the second warmest January–June on record. And for the second month in a row, warmth brought Antarctic sea-ice coverage to a new low.
The average global temperature in June was 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit (.95 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average of 59.9 degrees F (15.5 degrees C), making it the hottest June in the 140-year record, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
Nine of the 10 warmest Junes have occurred since 2010. June 1998 is the only year from the previous century that’s among the 10 warmest Junes on record (the eighth warmest June on record).
June 2019 also marks the 43rd consecutive June and the 414th consecutive month with temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th century average.
Read the complete NOAA report.
Average Antarctic sea-ice coverage was 8.5 percent below the 1981-2010 average – the smallest on record for June. Average Arctic sea ice coverage was 10.5 percent below average – the second-smallest on record for June.
Bottom line: According to NOAA, June 2019 was the planet’s hottest June in the climate record, which dates back to 1880.