July 20, 2016
You could be forgiven for not having read this, since most newspapers and web sites seem to have relegated the news to second- or third-tier status, but June of 2015 marked the fourteenth consecutive month in which average monthly global temperatures were their highest ever.
Meanwhile, NASA reports that global sea ice continues to melt: Five of the first six months in 2016 showed the smallest sea ice extent — the area of the sea covered with ice — since satellite tracking began in 1979. March was the only exception, recording the second smallest extent for that month. Currently, sea ice at its peak during the summer season melt covers 40 percent less area than it did in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The seasonal low point in Arctic sea ice extent in September is also declining at a rate of 13.4 percent per decade.
2015 was the hottest year on record. 2016 may make 2015 seem like a cool breeze.
