First Six Months of 2016 Were the Warmest on Record for the Planet, NOAA Says
Post date: Jul 19, 2016 6:14:26 PM
2016 year-to-date temperatures versus previous years
by Chris Dolce, Wunderblog
Published: July 19, 2016
Earth has recorded its warmest first half of any year dating to 1880, according to NOAA's global State of the Climate report released on Tuesday. In fact, each month so far this year has seen record warmth, the report added.
Furthermore, June marked the 14th consecutive warmest month on record for the globe. It's the longest stretch of months in a row that a global temperature record has been set, according to NOAA's dataset. The January through June 2016 temperature over the Earth's surface was 1.05 degrees Celsius (1.89 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th-century average. Last year previously held the title as the warmest first six months, but 2016 surpassed it by 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit).
The graphic below illustrates how warm the first half of 2016 has been, compared to the warmest seven years on record. The black line on the graph represents the departure from average temperature so far this year in 2016 by month. As you can see, it's well above the seven warmest years to date on record for January through June.
The black line shows how far temperatures have been so far in the first six months of 2016 compared to the seven warmest years on record.
(NOAA)
"Record warmth was widespread across Alaska, western Canada, southern Mexico, northern South America, central Africa, Indonesia, northern and eastern Australia, North Indian Ocean, and across parts of north-central Russia, western Asia, central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, the southwestern Pacific Ocean and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean," said NOAA in the report.
A few pockets around the Earth observed cooler-than-average conditions overall in the first six months of 2016. This includes the North Atlantic Ocean, as well as parts of the northern and southern Pacific Oceans.