July delivered the highest ocean temperatures in recorded history and western Europe marked its hottest start to summer on record, the European Union said Monday. Photo by Amael Dubiez/EPA
Aug. 10 (UPI) -- July delivered the highest ocean temperatures in recorded history, and western Europe marked its hottest start to summer on record, the European Union said Monday.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service, the EU's climate monitoring arm, said the average sea surface temperature outside of the polar regions was 20.96 degrees Celsius, or about 69.72 degree Fahrenheit, in July.
The previous record average was 20.89 degrees Celsius, 69.02 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded in 2023.
While the ocean warmed, the land also marked record highs in June and July. Western Europe's hot and dry summer has been the hottest ever recorded.
