Summer 2019 was the hottest on record for northern hemisphere
This summer was the hottest on record for the northern hemisphere, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday.
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NEW YORK — This summer was the hottest on record for the northern hemisphere, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday.
For the planet as a whole, the period from June to August was the second-hottest since records began 140 years ago, surpassed only by scorching temperatures in 2016, according to NOAA’s latest monthly global climate report.
The five most sweltering summers have all happened in the last five years, NOAA said, adding that the first eight months of 2019 were the third-warmest on record.
August was the second-hottest on record for the globe, shrinking Arctic sea ice to 30% below average, its smallest since 2012’s record-lowest extent, the report stated.
The global ocean temperature rose to its highest on record for August.
“Europe, Africa and the Hawaiian region had August temperatures that ranked among their three hottest Augusts on record,” NOAA said in a news release.
“Africa had its warmest June-August since records began. South America and Europe had a June-August temperature that ranked among the three warmest such periods on record.”
The agency listed Hurricane Dorian among recent significant climate events, saying it was “the strongest hurricane to affect the Bahamas on record” after it made landfall on Sept. 1.
NOAA’s report comes a week ahead of the United Nations’ climate summit in New York. Climate change is also set to be high on the agenda for world leaders at the U.N.’s General Assembly debate.