C3S scientist Julien Nicolas told AFP the June record was driven largely by “very warm ocean surface temperatures” in the Pacific and Atlantic due to El Nino, a periodic warming phenomenon.
“On top of that is this warming trend of the ocean absorbing 90 percent of heat released by human activity,” he added.
The global temperature was 0.53 degrees Celsius above the 30-year average at an average of 16.51 degrees Celsius, he calculated.
“June 2023 is way above the others. This is the kind of anomaly we are not used to,” Nicolas said.
Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation, warned on Monday that El Nino “will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean”.
He urged governments “to mobilise preparations to limit the impacts on our health, our ecosystems and our economies”.
HEATWAVE DEATHS
El Nino is a naturally occurring pattern associated with increased heat worldwide, as well as drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.
In addition, human activity – mainly the burning of fossil fuels – is continuing to emit roughly 40 billion tonnes of planet-warming CO2 into the atmosphere every year.
As well as withering crops, melting glaciers and raising the risk of wildfires, higher-than-normal temperatures also cause health problems ranging from heatstroke and dehydration to cardiovascular stress.
In the United States, local officials said last week that at least 13 people died from an extreme heat wave in Texas and Louisiana.
China issued its highest-level heat alert for northern parts of the country as Beijing baked in temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius.
After a record hot June in Britain, water use restrictions were imposed in parts of southeastern England, and Scotland put regions on water scarcity alert.
The world has warmed an average of nearly 1.2 degrees Celsius since the mid-1800s, unleashing extreme weather including more intense heatwaves, more severe droughts in some areas and storms made fiercer by rising seas.
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