Global Temperature Trend Update: Fourth Warmest June In Satellite Record – Prospects for Monster El Nino Fading

Every month University of Alabama in
Huntsville climatologists John Christy and Roy Spencer report the
latest global temperature trends from satellite data. Below are the
newest data updated through June 2014.

Global Temperature Report: June 2014

Global climate trend since Nov. 16, 1978: +0.14 C per decade

June temperatures (preliminary)

Global composite temp.: +0.30 C (about 0.54 degrees Fahrenheit)
above 30-year average for June.

Northern Hemisphere: +0.32 C (about 0.58 degrees Fahrenheit)
above 30-year average for June.

Southern Hemisphere: +0.29 C (about 0.52 degrees Fahrenheit)
above 30-year average for June.

Tropics: +0.51 C (about 0.92 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year
average for June.

Notes on data released July 1,
2014:

June 2014 might have been the fourth warmest June in the 36-year
satellite record, but recent changes in the tropical Pacific might
indicate the globe isn’t going to set any temperature records in
upcoming months, according to Dr. John Christy, a professor of
atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center
at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. The global average
temperature for June was 0.30 C (about 0.54 degrees Fahrenheit)
warmer than seasonal norms for the month, warm enough to tie June
2013 for fourth warmest. (The warmest June was in 1998, during the
“El Niño of the century.” Global average temperatures in June 1998
were 0.51 C [about 0.92 degrees F] warmer than normal.)

Early indications that an El Niño Pacific Ocean warming event
might be forming faded in June, although the atmosphere typically
takes a couple of months to catch up to what is going on in the
oceans. In June, the tropical Pacific Ocean did not continue to
warm. This doesn’t mean a strong El Niño isn’t possible, so we
shall wait and see.

In general, atmospheric temperatures do not immediately reflect
that ocean cooling: The tropical atmosphere saw its second warmest
June on record at 0.51 C (about 0.92 F) warmer than normal, as it
was still feeling the extra ocean heat from two months ago. In the
tropics, the only June warmer was in 1998, at 0.53 C warmer than
normal.

Compared to seasonal norms, the coldest place in Earth’s
atmosphere in June was over the Ross Ice Shelf, where Antarctic
winter temperatures were as much as 5.37 C (about 9.67 degrees
Fahrenheit) colder than seasonal norms. Compared to seasonal norms,
the warmest departure from average in June was southeast of the
southern tip of South America, in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Temperatures there
were as much as 2.85 C (about 5.13 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than
seasonal norms.

Go here to see maps
showing global temperature anomalies.