This year gave the hottest June on record.
The average global temperature, which includes both land and ocean surfaces, for June is the highest at 61.48 degrees Fahrenheit since record keeping began in 1880, beating the previous record, which was from last year, by 0.22 degree Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
June is also the fourth month this year to break previous records, along with February, March and May. January holds the second warmest on record while April is the third warmest, NOAA reports.
JUST IN: #June 2015 was warmest June on record for globe per @NOAANCEIclimate #StateOfClimate https://t.co/dJwfrfmMjP pic.twitter.com/2NXyersiXt
— NOAA (@NOAA) July 20, 2015
Global land areas & oceans each record warm for June per @NOAANCEIclimate rpt #StateOfClimate https://t.co/dJwfrfmMjP pic.twitter.com/4br0Rvy4zU — NOAA (@NOAA) July 20, 2015
It appears record-breaking heat is "getting to be a monthly thing" this year, according to NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden.
"There is almost no way that 2015 isn't going to be the warmest on record," she said, The Washington Post reports.
The first six months of 2015 averaged 57.83 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer by one-sixth of a degree than the previous record, which was in 2010.
The spike in global temperature is being driven, in part, by El Niño, which was last experienced in 2010. However, in 2010, the El Niño had begun to end by June, while this year it is expected to intensify further in the coming months, according to Discover Magazine.
If this would be the case, temperatures in the equatorial Pacific would remain high or possibly become warmer. This means 2015 may indeed become the warmest year on record, Discover Magazine says.
"If that happens, it's just going to go off the charts," said Blunden.
The heat of June was felt almost all over the world but with more intensity in Spain, Australia, certain parts of Asia, Austria and South America. A heat wave swept southern Pakistan and left 1,200 casualties, making it the eighth deadliest heat wave since 1900. In May, a heat wave struck India and killed more than 2,000 people, which made it the fifth deadliest heat wave of all time, according to The Washington Post.
"This is what anthropogenic global warming looks like, just hotter and hotter," Jonathan Overpeck, co-director of the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona, said, The Washington Post reports.
