Washington: The six-month period from January to June was the planet’s warmest half-year on record, and also had the lowest Arctic sea ice extent since satellite records began in 1979, according to NASA.
Two key climate change indicators — global surface temperatures and Arctic sea ice extent — have broken numerous records through the first half of this year, according to the US space agency’s analyses.
Each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest respective month globally in the modern temperature record, which dates to 1880, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in the US.
This was also the planet’s warmest half-year on record, with an average temperature 1.3 degrees Celsius warmer than the late 19th century.
First five months also set records for the smallest respective monthly Arctic sea ice extent since consistent satellite records began in 1979.
