European Union climate scientists issued warnings that weather patterns, global climate, and marine ecosystems could be impacted in unexpected ways -- none of them positive -- after the temperature of world's oceans spiked in June to levels that eclipsed all previous records. File photo by Miguel Tona/EPA
July 1 (UPI) -- Ocean surface temperatures for June hit record highs for the month, the European Union's climate change service said Wednesday, warning that while the rise was anticipated due to El Niño it would have "consequences for both weather patterns, global climate, and marine ecosystems."
In a news release, the broader Earth-system climate-focused Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Copernicus Marine Service, which delivers detailed ocean analyses and forecasts, confirmed respective global sea surface temperature highs of 20.86 degrees Celsius and 21 degrees Celsius.
The new record highs hit on June 21 came in above the previous record peaks of 20.83 degrees and 20.9 degrees Celsius observed in 2023 and 2024 -- said by scientists at the time to be so much higher than expected as to be "terrifying" -- that were linked to blistering heatwaves, flooding and some of the most powerful storms ever recorded.
