June 2020 broke the streak of each month being warmest or second warmest on record by being only the third-warmest June on record.
Cool conditions in Alaska and northern Canada related to a strong polar vortex were not enough to outweigh the extreme warmth across Europe and Asia in February 2020. Both the Northern Hemisphere and the globe as a whole had their second-warmest February on record.
The globally averaged sea surface temperature in 2013 was among the 10 highest on record, with the North Pacific reaching an historic high temperature. ENSO-neutral conditions and a negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation pattern had the largest impacts on global sea surface temperature in 2013.
Sea surface temperature—the average temperature of water at the surface of the global ocean—is a key indicator of the ocean's status.
September 2012 tied with September 2005 as the warmest September worldwide since record keeping began in 1880. See which countries saw warmer-than-average temperatures during last month, and learn how weak El Niño conditions might progress into the Northern Hemisphere winter.