Average temperatures (°C) in ice-free seas for the month of May over the period 1979 to 2023. Light blue bars show sea surface temperature and dark blue bars show sea air temperature with a shift – COPERNICUS CLIMATE CHANGE SERVICE.
MADRID, June 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Sea surface temperature and mean sea air temperature in all ice-free seas last May They were the highest recorded that month.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Overall, average temperatures were close to normal in most of Europe, but were significantly warmer than normal in parts of Canada, Africa and Southeast Asia. May 2023 was significantly colder than normal in Australia and a strip from north-west India to southern Siberia. Signs of the “El Niño” phenomenon also continued to appear in the eastern tropical Pacific.
“May 2023 was the second warmest in the world and we continue to see signs of El Niño emerging in the equatorial Pacific. Temperatures over the ocean are already reaching record highs and data suggests the average temperature in
“All ice-free seas were higher in May 2023 than any other May,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the C3S.
HYDROLOGICAL VARIABLES
May 2023 was wetter than average in most of southern Europe and western Iceland; Heavy rains caused flooding in Italy and the western Balkans. However, drier than normal conditions were reported over most of the Iberian Peninsula, Denmark, the Baltic States, southern Scandinavia and much of western Russia.
Outside Europe, May 2023 was drier than average in much of North America, central Russia, throughout East and Southeast Asia, the Horn of Africa, most of southern Africa, Australia and South America.
The regions that recorded above-average wet conditions were south-east and south-west North America, south-east Africa, southern Brazil, Pakistan and New Zealand.
SEA ICE HIGHLIGHTS
The extent of sea ice in Antarctica reached a monthly record minimum for this time of year, according to satellite data recording. 17% below average.
Sea ice concentrations were below average in the Weddell, Bellingshausen, and northern Ross Seas, while remaining above average in the Amundsen Sea. Likewise, the extent of Arctic sea ice was very close to average, reaching practically the same value as in May 2022.
Sea ice concentration anomalies were characterized by above-average concentrations in the Greenland Sea and below-average concentrations in the Barents Sea.
As for the boreal source, The year 2023 was drier than average in the Iberian Peninsula and most of Eastern Europe. Conditions were wetter than average in Iceland, Ireland, most of the UK, Italy and most of central and south-eastern Europe. Outside Europe, the boreal spring was wetter than average in the western and southeastern United States, parts of the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and parts of central Asia, northern Australia, and western South Africa.
Above-average dry conditions prevailed in the rest of North America, most of South America and much of southern Africa.