According to data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Copernicus Climate Change Servicethe Earth has just had the period of hottest three months on recordunprecedented sea surface temperatures and extreme weather conditions.
The WMO detailed that the global temperatures sea surface temperatures are at record levels for the third consecutive month and the extent of sea ice on the Antarctica remains at an all-time low for the time of year.
By a wide margin, this was the hottest August ever recorded and the second hottest month on record, second only to July of this same year, the agency said, based on data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
"August as a whole is estimated to have been about 1.5°C warmer than the pre-industrial average for the period 1850-1900," it reported. "The year so far is the second warmest on record, behind 2016, when a powerful El Niño warming episode occurred."
With an average of 20.98 °C for the entire month of August, this was the highest sea surface temperature ever recorded, surpassing the March 2016 record.
The WMO emphasized in its communiqué that the extension of the Antarctic sea ice remained at a record level for the time of year, with a monthly value 12% below average, by far the largest negative anomaly recorded in August since satellite observations began in the late 1970s.
Arctic sea ice extent was 10% below average, but well above the record low of August 2012.
It is worth noting that a May report by the WMO and the United Kingdom Meteorological Office predicted that there is a 98% probability that at least one of the next five years will be the warmest on record and a 66% probability of temporarily exceeding 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 period. average for at least one of the five years.
However, this does not mean that the Earth will permanently exceed the level of 1.5°C specified in the Paris Agreementwhich refers to long-term warming over many years.
