Hottest June ever continues 14-month streak of record breaking temperatures

Average global temperature in first six months of the year was 1.3 degrees Celsius higher than 19th century – just 0.2 degrees below target set by world leaders to limit global warming

The first six months of this year were the hottest on record, averaging 1.3°C above temperatures in the 19th century, US scientists have said.

Last month set a record for the global temperature in June, continuing a streak of 14 consecutive months that the previous high has been surpassed.

In December, world leaders agreed to try to limit global warming to 1.5°C higher than pre-industrial temperatures, although the pledges to reduce carbon emissions made by individual countries could allow this to reach 3.1°C.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a database of thermometer readings around the world going back to 1880.

“The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for June 2016 was the highest for the month of June in the NOAA global temperature dataset record,” it said in a statement.

“This marks the 14th consecutive month the monthly global temperature record has been broken, the longest such streak in the 137-year record.”

The amount of sea ice in the Arctic has also seen an astonishing decline over the past few decades.

During the height of the summer melt season, it now typically covers 40 per cent less area than it did in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The amount of sea ice in September, when it reaches the lowest level before the onset of winter, has been falling at a rate of more than 13 per cent each decade.

Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, which uses satellites to monitor sea ice, said: “It has been a record year so far for global temperatures, but the record high temperatures in the Arctic over the past six months have been even more extreme.

“This warmth as well as unusual weather patterns have led to the record low sea ice extents so far this year.”

One leading expert has warned the rapid increase in temperatures in the Arctic could be “possibly catastrophic” for the planet with growing evidence that the warming there could increase the number of dangerous storms in the northern hemisphere.

Dr Peter Gleick, of the Pacific Institute in California, told The Independent in February: “The evidence is very clear that rapid and unprecedented changes are happening in the Arctic.

“What is much less clear is the complex consequences. We are, effectively, conducting a global experiment on the only planet we have. The interconnections with weather patterns, sea-level, and more are real.

“And while there remains uncertainty about the ultimate consequences, there is a good and growing body of research that is pretty scary, and pretty much no evidence that the possible impacts will be good, unless you are a global shipping company hoping to save some money by opening up routes in the Arctic or an oil/gas company hoping to find new cheap fossil fuels.”