The month we recently left behind was particularly hot in the west of the USA and Canada, as well as in Finland and west of Russia, the EU’s climate change service states Copernicus.
In the Canadian province of British Columbia, a heat record was set three days in a row in June.
The region was 1.2 degrees higher than normal for the period 1991–2020.
– Heat waves more likely
– These heat waves do not occur in a vacuum. They occur in a world where the climate is getting warmer and they are more likely to occur, says climate scientist Julien Nicolas at Copernicus.
– What happened in Canada was a big jump compared to previous records. These heat records are a powerful reminder of how climate change is affecting our lives, says Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo.
The service makes monthly reports on, among other things, air temperatures and sea ice. Copernicus collects data from satellites, aircraft and weather stations worldwide.
Over the last few days, Lytton has repeatedly broken the record for the warmest temperature ever recorded in Canada. On Wednesday night, the inhabitants had to flee when the flames took over the city.
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Fifth warmest
In Norway, this year’s June was the fifth warmest since 1900, the Meteorological Institute recently stated. Relatively speaking, it was warmest in East Finnmark, where some stations were almost 4 degrees above normal.
The highest temperature measured was 29.4 degrees in Valle in Agder, while Juvasshøe in the Inland and Gamanjunni in North Troms registered the lowest temperature, -4 degrees.
Norway has also seen an increase in the number of heat waves in the last 30 years, meteorologists say.
June was not only warmer than normal, there was also 10 percent less rainfall than usual. Vestfold and Telemark were driest, with less than half as much rain as normal in several places. Several places in the Inland and along the Agder coast received more precipitation, in some places up to 50–85 per cent more than normal.
Hot and dry
A heat record was also set in Helsinki. The Finnish capital has not experienced such a hot June since they began keeping statistics in 1844.
Also in Moscow, higher average temperatures were not measured in June earlier. Also in northern Siberia, summer temperatures were extremely high.
“The heat waves in North America, Western Russia and northern Siberia are just the latest example of a trend that is expected to continue in the future and is related to global warming,” says climate scientist Nicolas.
In many places in Europe, it was also drier than normal in June. Parts of the United States, Canada, South America and China also received less rainfall than normal. In the western United States and Canada, several forest fires broke out.
Winter heat in New Zealand
Even worldwide, this year’s June is among the warmest ever recorded. Only three times before has June been warmer: 2016, 2019 and 2020. June 2021 shares fourth place with June 2018.
Recently, New Zealand also reported its warmest June ever. In what is a winter month in the southern hemisphere, the average temperature was 10.6 degrees Celsius, according to the state research institute NIWA.
It is 2 degrees higher than the 30-year normal and 0.3 degrees higher than the previous record, which was set in 2003 and touched in 2014.
Shorter winters
Weather statistics for New Zealand go back to 1909. Climate scientist Gregor Macara says the average temperature has increased by around 1 degree in the last century.
– The underlying trend shows increasing temperature and general warming, says Macara. If the trend continues, people can expect shorter winters and earlier spring, he explains.
Antarctica was colder than normal for the last 30 years. The overall distribution of sea ice was close to average, but there were large regional variations.
The sea ice in the Arctic was smaller than normal, but not as small as the average for the last five years. Seven times before, there has been less sea ice in the north.
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