Summit County Citizens Voice

Ronald Reagan was president the last time monthly temperatures were below the 20th century average

Temperatures in June 2011 were above the long-term average across most of the planet.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The world is warming at an unrelenting pace, according to the latest global monthly summary from the National Climatic Data Center, which showed that the combined land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2011 was 1.04 degrees above the 20th century average — the seventh-warmest June on record.

According to the summary, compiled at thousands of stations around the world, it was the 316th consecutive month with an average temperature above the 20th century average. The last the monthly average temperature was below normal, Ronald Reagan was president, in February 1985.

The land surface temperature was 1.6 degrees above average, while the sea surface temperature was 0.85 above average. The year to-date is the 11th warmest on record for combined land and sea surface temperature.

During June, warmer than average conditions prevailed across most of the planet, especially in Russia, Europe China and the Middle East. Only the northwestern U.S. parts of western Canada and Australia were cooler than normal. China reported the second-warmest June since record-keeping began in 1951.

Despite their proximity, Australia and New Zealand reported disparate readings. New Zealand reported the third-warmest June since record-keeping started in 1909, while Australia reported its eight-coolest June on record, based on daily average minimum and maximum temperatures.

In terms of precipitation, the southern U.S. was one of the driest parts of the entire planet in June, along with eastern Brazil, Argentina and Peru. Wetter than normal conditions prevailed in the Caribbean, South Africa, the Middle East and western Mongolia.

Compiled from the NOAA National Climatic Data Center, State of the Climate: Global Analysis for June 2011, published online July 2011, retrieved on July 29, 2011 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2011/6.

Filed under: climate and weather, Environment, global warming, Summit County Colorado, Summit County news Tagged: | climate, Environment, global warming, Instrumental temperature record, June 2011 global temperatures, National Climatic Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, State of the Climate, Summit County News