Last month was the hottest June ever recorded on Earth

Children cool themselves with electric fans in Beijing on June 25, 2023. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says this was the hottest June on record globally.

Andy Wong / Andy Wong

Last month was the hottest June on record going back 174 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s the latest temperature record to fall this summer, as the El Niño climate pattern exacerbates the effects of human-caused climate change.

The average global temperature in June 2023 was slightly hotter than the previous record June, which occurred in 2020.

Millions of people around the world suffered as a result, as heat waves hit every continent. In the U.S., record-breaking heat gripped much of the country including the Northeast, Texas, the Plains and Puerto Rico in June, and another round of deadly heat is affecting people across the southern half of the country this week.