World's ocean temps are warmest on record

At 62.6 degrees in July, that’s a full degree above 20th Century average

It’s not just the ocean off the Northeast coast that is super-warm this summer. July was the hottest the world’s oceans have been in almost 130 years of record-keeping.

The average water temperature worldwide was 62.6 degrees, according to the National Climatic Data Center, the branch of the U.S. government that keeps world weather records. June was only slightly cooler, while August could set another record, scientists say. The previous record was set in July 1998 during a powerful El Nino weather pattern.

At a full degree above the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees, “the global ocean surface temperature for July 2009 was the warmest on record,” the center said.

Large portions of many continents had substantially warmer-than-average temperatures, the center stated.

MSNBC