Xinhua News Agency on July 9 quoted a report released by the National Environmental Information Center (NCEI) under the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as saying that sea ice area in June in both the Arctic and Antarctic ranged in the top 10 lowest levels ever recorded. Meanwhile, the activity of storms and tropical depressions globally was higher than the average.
According to reports, global surface temperatures in June were 1.09 degrees Celsius higher than the 20th century average, making June 2026 the second hottest June in observation history, only after June 2024.
Higher-than-average temperatures appeared in many regions around the world in the past month. Some continents and regions recorded June in the top 10 hottest months of June since tracking data.
The report also said that the total area of global sea ice in June reached the fourth lowest level in a 48-year satellite data series, with about 22.7 million km2, about 2.02 million km2 less than the average for the period 1991-2020.
Since the beginning of the year, global temperatures from January to June have ranked third in observation history.
NCEI's annual Global Temperature Forecast assesses that 2026 is likely to be in the top 5 hottest years in history.
