![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260630-heat-some-chicago-ac-1145-8594db.jpg\")
Temperatures topped 90 F in Chicago on Monday.Scott Olson \/ Getty Images<\/p>\nAccording to the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Copernicus Marine Service, global ocean temperatures outside the polar regions hit record levels on June 21, surpassing levels for the time of the year observed in both 2023 and 2024. <\/p>\n
The Copernicus Climate Change Service said temperatures reached 20.86 degrees Celsius (69.54 degrees Fahrenheit) that day, climbing above the 20.83 C (69.49 F) observed in 2023 and 2024. <\/p>\n
The Copernicus Marine Service, meanwhile, recorded temperatures at 21 C (69.8 F), beating records from 2023 and 2024 by 0.1 degree Celsius.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s consistent with what we\u2019ve known for a long time \u2014 that the planet is warming because we\u2019re emitting vast quantities of greenhouse gases, primarily from fossil fuel burning, into the atmosphere and that\u2019s stifling the ability of the planet to lose its heat to space,\u201d Richard Allan, a professor of climate science at the University of Reading in the U.K., said in a phone interview. <\/p>\n
Temperatures topped 90 F in Chicago on Monday.Scott Olson \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Oceans absorb around 90% of the excess energy on Earth, which is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas, with rising temperatures painting a concerning picture of the impacts of climate change and the \u201cemerging influence of El Ni\u00f1o\u201d also a factor, Allan said.<\/p>\n
It is important to continue using the tools available to monitor rising ocean surface temperatures and to \u201cadapt\u201d in parallel and \u201creduce our green gas emissions,\u201d oceanographer Pierre-Yves Le Traon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really worrying to see this trend,\u201d said Le Traon, the scientific director of Mercator Ocean International, a research institute based in Toulouse, France, which operates the Copernicus Marine Service.<\/p>\n
The announcements came as a dangerous heat wave looked <\/a>set to scorch parts of the United States ahead of the July Fourth <\/a>weekend. More than 46 million people across the country were under extreme heat alerts as of Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. <\/p>\n The weather service warned of \u201cdangerous heat\u201d set to build across the central and eastern U.S., with highs expected to reach the mid-to-upper 90s and some locations exceeding 100 F.<\/p>\n Areas across the Ohio Valley, the mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast were expected to see record-breaking high temperatures through Thursday, it warned, with parts of northern neighbor Canada also facing extreme heat. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, heat records were broken across Europe last week, with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warning<\/a> that more than 1,300 excess deaths had been recorded since June 21 \u201clinked to high temperatures in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"APTOPIX](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260701-heat-usa-2-rs-c21f5c.jpg\")
Visitors use a jacket for shade at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on Tuesday.Mark Schiefelbein \/ AP<\/p>\n