June smashed global high temperature records according to official figures released today by the U.S. government.
Moreover, unofficial satellite temperature calculations (by climate change skeptic Dr. Roy Spencer) of the lowest atmospheric layer around the earth's surface show the past 3 days may be the hottest days ever measured on earth. Try this link to make your own graph.
The orange line on top is 2010. The blue line that set the previous high is 2009. The other lines are 1998-2008.
We suffered through the hottest June ever measured in North Carolina.
The National Climate Data Center officially declared the record high global temperatures for June today.
Last month’s combined global land and ocean surface temperature made it the warmest June on record and the warmest on record averaged for any April-June and January-June periods, according to NOAA. Worldwide average land surface temperature was the warmest on record for June and the April-June period, and the second warmest on record for the year-to-date (January-June) period, behind 2007.
Global Temperature Highlights – June
• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record at 61.1°F (16.2°C), which is 1.22°F (0.68°C) above the 20th century average of 59.9°F (15.5°C).
• The global June land surface temperature was 1.93°F (1.07°C) above the 20th century average of 55.9 °F (13.3°C) — the warmest on record.
Temperatures have risen rapidly in the past few decades, since 1980.All time records shattered by the super El Nino of 1998 have been shattered again this year following the moderate El Nino of 2009 that ended in spring 2010.
Figures from NASA show that all latitudes were hot north of 60 degrees south. Ozone depletion and a tightening atmospheric circulation around the south pole caused it to be much colder than normal.
The warmest ever January-June on record was officially reported by NOAA (the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Record minimum sea ice concentrations and extent were observed in the Arctic and record high concentrations and extent were observed in Antarctica.
• Arctic sea ice covered an average of 4.2 million square miles (10.9 million square kilometers) during June. This is 10.6 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent and the lowest June extent since records began in 1979. This was also the 19th consecutive June with below-average Arctic sea ice extent.
• Antarctic sea ice extent in June was above average, 8.3 percent above the 1979-2000 average—resulting in the largest June extent on record.
A catastrophic long term decline of June sea ice in the Arctic is being caused by Arctic warming.
Growth of sea ice in the Antarctic winter does not balance off the decline of Arctic sea ice in the summer. Summer sea ice is the foundation of a complex ecosystem in the Arctic. Antarctica has no summer sea ice. The cold conditions in Antarctica reflect the complexities of climate change and the loss of ozone, which is a greenhouse gas, around the south pole.
The long-term trend of decline of summer Arctic sea ice portends an environmental disaster.
It's Arctic melt season. I I found this beautiful picture from the north pole web cam yesterday.
