Though we’re just a month into summer, June 2019 has become the hottest June on record, CNN reports. It’s also the second month in a row that high temperatures caused Antarctic sea ice coverage to hit a new, record low.
June 2019’s average land and sea temperature was 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit (0.95 degrees Celsius) more than the global average temperature of 59.9 F (15.5 C), making last month the hottest June in 140 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Nine of the top 10 warmest Junes have taken place since 2010.
In the U.S., Alaska had its second-warmest June since it began keeping track in 1925. While the Hawaiian islands are always fairly balmy, the area also had its hottest June too—as did the Gulf of Mexico.
As a whole, Europe experienced its hottest June on record, with Austria, Germany, and Hungary all recording their hottest June ever. Switzerland, on the other hand, had its second hottest. Paris even opened extra swimming pools and set up mist machines ahead of a heatwave in June.
Last month’s scorching temperatures reached our planet’s melting poles as well. June 2019 was the 20th successive June with below-average sea ice coverage in the Arctic, and the fourth successive June with below-average sea ice coverage in the Antarctic. This June marked the Antarctic’s ice coverage as the smallest it’s ever been for the month in a 41-year record, eclipsing the previous record low from 2002.
However, July might have June beat: June’s sweltering heat could make July the hottest month ever on Earth, The Guardian reports. If July follows June’s lead, then this month will beat the previous record from July 2017 by about 0.025C, according to the University of Oxford. July is known to be the hottest month of the year globally.
